Amy and Rose
by DragonShadow
Summary: There's a big theatrical production in town, and Abby has stars in her eyes, but there are a lot of hurdles to be jumped before her dreams can even begin to take off... like sharing the lead with Paige. Abby/Paige, you've been warned.
1. Two Stars Are Born

(Author's Notes:

1: The story will be updated 1 chapter per day until completion.  
2: This story is rated "T" for homosexuality, partial nudity, sexual content, and some language. Reader discretion is advised.)

Amy and Rose  
Chapter 01: Two Stars Are Born

"This is going to be absolutely amazing!" Abby grinned and hugged herself, nearly giggling in glee outside of the massive theater in the center of town. She could barely believe a major company had decided to bring a play into their city, or that they were looking for locals to fill out the cast list. Well, that was what the massive banner hanging off the side of the building told her, anyway. "Forget school plays, this is a REAL PLAY put on by REAL PRODUCERS! Starring kids our age! EEEEEEEE!"

Ty laughed, though he shared her excited grin. "Don't get too caught up in this Abby, we still have to audition, remember? We might not even make it. I'm sure the competition will be fierce."

"Oh, trust me, it will be." The girl in front of them turned around, fluffing her short blonde hair out to the sides with a cocky smile on her lips. "In fact, you'd might as well go home right now, because one of the lead roles is mine, and once they see me, they'll know you're just a second rate version." With a haughty laugh Paige turned to face forward again, resting her hand on one of her hips.

Abby growled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe that little-"

"Relax, Abby. You know you're a better actress than her. Go in there and show them that." Ty nudged her.

"Yeah, you're right." Abby smirked. " I WILL show them."

One by one the hopeful actors filed into the auditorium. One after another, each emerged shedding more tears than the last. The ones who left right when Paige, Abby, and Ty reached the building actually collapsed on the ground as if their very dreams had been crushed underfoot. One funny thing Abby noticed was that the people were being called into the building in groups, and she realized suddenly that she was standing right behind Paige. She thought to switch with Ty, but a broad-shouldered man grabbed her should before she could suggest it.

"Good luck, sis!" She heard Ty call from outside right before the door closed between them.

"You two are next." The man told her with a broad smile. Before she knew what was happening she was pushed shoulder-to-shoulder with Paige inside the building, where they saw crewmembers hustling around the backstage area, while just through some curtains beside a massive stage they could see a tall, well-dressed man seated in the front row of the empty auditorium, watching with light interest as the sound of someone speaking came from the stage itself.

"Here." A man shoved scripts into their hands. "Memorize these, you're up next."

"Right!" Paige nodded quickly and looked down at her page, her eyes skimming it rapidly.

"Er, right! Yeah!" Abby looked down at her page as well, her eyes scanning across the words. It was just a short scene, but she didn't have long to memorize them. She was surprised to see that it was a romantic scene written in a strange sort of Shakespearean style she recognized from history class. Her stomach grumbled in nervousness. She'd never tried anything like this before. She felt like she was way out of her league… but there was nothing to be gained by running away now.

"Wait a second…" Paige narrowed her eyes. "This scene is between two girls… what kind of play is this?"

"A very important one." The broad-shouldered man told them. Abby blinked in surprise and looked at the names of the two characters. Rose and Amy… it was between two girls. But the dialogue was so soft and romantic… now that she looked though, there was a hint of sadness about it. She kind of liked the feel of it.

"You can pull out if you don't think you can do it." Abby smirked.

"Not a chance, Archer." Paige said with a smirk as she tossed her script over her shoulder and pulled out a tube of red lipstick, applying it and giving her lips a wet smack. "I'll see you onstage, Rose." She winked and walked out onto the stage once the stagehand gestured to them.

Not willing to let Paige upstage her, Abby marched out right alongside her, seeing the director watching them from his seat in the front row.

"You may begin when you're ready." The director told them.

Abby nodded and turned away from Paige, crossing her arms over her stomach. She waited while the other girl walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Think not about what they told you, dear Rose." Paige spoke in a powerful accent that sounded a bit silly, but still seemed to almost radiate authority through the entire empty theater.

"They called me a monster." Abby spoke in as powerful a voice as she could muster, though she made her voice crack in mid-sentence, as if she was on the verge of breaking down. "And I begin to think perhaps they were right… perhaps a monster dwells deep inside."

"There is no monster but the ones outside of us, the ones who cast those stones upon one so innocent." Paige gripped her shoulder and spun her around with a forceful yank. Abby was stunned by the fierce look in her eyes, shining with fire and determination. This was a look she'd seen a lot from Paige over the years, but never like this. It was like the role was crafted for her. "Inside of you is no monster, inside of you dwells a being to make angels weep… do not dare doubt that."

Abby didn't remember that line from the script. Did Paige forget, or was she improvising? Man, now Abby couldn't remember her lines either… she had to come up with something. "It is difficult to remain firm when the world comes crashing down."

"And that is why we cannot let them win." Paige moved closer to her, gripping both of her shoulders now. "To separate is to allow the world to crush us… to separate is to die."

"Yet to remain together is to remain alone." Abby choked back a fake sob. "Can we really do this?"

"We can…" Paige moved even closer, slipping her arm around her back as her other arm encircled her waist, pulling her closer. Abby's eyes widened when she felt her side pulled up against Paige's in something like a firm embrace, her eyes staring into hers with that same fiery passion they'd held earlier. "Together, anything is possible."

Abby gulped. For a few moments Abby wasn't sure what to do. Should she return the embrace, take it even further? Thankfully, she didn't have to. The scene was interrupted by the sound of clapping from the seats in front of the stage. The two girls turned to look to see the director on his feet clapping his hands in front of him in a slow, powerful rhythm as he moved towards the stage.

"Such creativity, such energy, such passion." The man climbed the steps up to the stage to approach them, his eyes locked on Paige. "I can't see anyone putting as much into a performance as you just did. If you can put that energy into every performance, you have the role of Amy right now."

Paige squealed and jumped up and down. "Oh you bet I can! I can do it anytime, anywhere!" Abby looked at her, a bit disappointed that Paige had been chosen instead… but honestly, she deserved it. That had been an amazing performance.

"Congratulations." Abby held out her hand to Paige. Paige whirled on her in surprise, as if she'd just pulled a knife. "You deserved it."

Paige narrowed her eyes at her for a moment, then huffed and took her hand. "Of course I did, but… thanks."

"And who says you don't have a role?" The director grinned. "What is Amy without Rose?"

Abby's eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"You both have such wonderful chemistry together, it's like you were made for this!"

Abby and Paige exchanged a blank glance, speaking in unison. "We do?"

"Absolutely. The way you came to her aid to offer her comfort was almost natural." The director smiled down at them. "You're both in."

Paige stared at Abby almost in disbelief, with a trace of disgust. For a moment Abby thought the girl was going to attack, but amazingly, she didn't. Instead, she held out her hand and took Abby's in a firm shake. "Congratulations, yourself… looks like we're stuck together."

"How does that always end up happening, anyway?" Abby replied with a smirk.

"I blame the universe, most of the time." Paige returned her smirk and released her hand.

While the director went through the rest of the waiting actors outside, the studio took down their names, phone numbers, and home addresses, and also gave them each a copy of the thick script to read when they got home. Despite knowing she would have to act alongside Paige, Abby couldn't force the smile off of her face. She'd actually done it, she'd gotten into a real theatrical production put on by a real producer, and in the lead role too! She was usually a modest girl, but she had to admit… she was pretty awesome.

"I can't believe you did it, Abby!" Ty grinned as the two Archer siblings made their way home, walking comfortably along the winding, but comfortably familiar sidewalk. "The lead role, mom and dad are going to flip out when they hear."

"Heeee!" Abby grinned. "I know! I can't even believe it myself!" She cooled down a bit as she walked, clutching the thick script to her chest. "The only problem is that I have to work with Paige, and not just a little either. She's my costar, we have to rehearse together."

"It's not like you've never worked with her before." Ty pointed out.

"Yeah, but last time was just hammering out plans for a dance theme, we're going to be spending WEEKS on end rehearsing this thing. And if we really want to stand out, we're going to have to rehearse even when the rest of the cast isn't." Abby retorted. "Can you imagine me and Paige ALONE together? I don't know who's in more danger."

"Relax, Abby. I'm sure it won't be that big a deal. Paige is a pain, but she wants this to go smoothly too. I'm sure you guys can work something out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Abby grinned as they reached their house in the fiery light of dusk. "I'm sorry you didn't get a role, by the way. It would have been great to have you there, too."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Some of us just aren't cut out for artistic persuits." Ty smirked slightly. "Sometimes I think my brain is completely incapable of comprehending anything artistic."

"We all have our weaknesses." Abby squealed and hugged her script to her chest again. "Oh man, I have got to read my script, I wanna see just what kind of story this is! It sounded like something special from the audition!"

"Yeah, my section sounded pretty weird too, all this Shakespeare stuff thrown in, not too sure about it." Ty said.

"Oh hush, it'll be great! I'm gonna go find out right now! See ya!" Giggling like an eager schoolgirl, Abby charged into the house and bounded up the stairs to her room two at a time. She slammed the door behind her, rushing to her bed and throwing herself down on it face-down to stare at the title. "Amy and Rose".

The script flew open in her hands, in within moments she was lost in the script, reading every line carefully to get the image of her mind of what was supposed to be happening. She read fast, soaking up the story and scenery like an eager sponge. The Shakespeare influence was sprinkled throughout the script at mostly key points, and after a while she realized the whole thing was pretty familiar. It was Romeo and Juliet with different characters. To be more specific, Amy and Rose were the replacements.

She found this interesting and exciting at first, indeed, the script was beautifully written, full of conflict and tragedy like Shakespeare but in a more modern time frame, but then she reached a page that made her recoil somewhat. Amy and Rose had to kiss… but Amy was being played by…

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Abby screamed at the top of her lungs, falling backward off the bed onto the floor with a heavy thump. Her chest was heaving in terror as the door was flung open, revealing her brother staring down at her in concern.

"Abby!? What's wrong!? Did someone try to attack you!?" He demanded in a panic.

"W-worse!" Abby panted. "I have to kiss Paige…" She cringed at the sound of it.

Ty blinked down at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"The script! It's Romeo and Juliet with two girls, and Paige is playing the other girl!" Abby groaned. "Oh man, why did my first real play have to be this!? This is gross on so many levels."

"Good thing you're a Grossologist." Ty smirked.

"This isn't funny Ty, we're talking about Paige here! I'd rather have my blood sucked dry by a million leeches than TOUCH her, let alone kiss her!" Abby sat up with a shudder at the mental image. "I may not survive this…"

Ty chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Come on Abby, it's not THAT bad. Besides, if it bugs you that much, you can always pull out of the play."

"What!? I'm not running from her!" Abby leapt to her feet. "This is my first chance to do something that the world will stand up and notice! This isn't noodling around in a school play or investigating an outbreak of Athelete's Foot that nobody will know I had a hand in, this play could make me a worldwide name! Everyone would know me!"

"I think you're blowing this a little out of proportion." Ty quipped.

"The point is, this is a big deal for me, and Paige is not going to ruin it!"

"Then fuming about it won't help." Ty gave her a comforting smile. "Talk to her about it, work something out. She's… y'know, Paige… but she's not stupid. She'll want to work it out too."

"Y-yeah…" Abby blinked, his words finally sinking in. "Yeah, we can work something out… some kind of plan on how to deal with it."

"Yeah, and just be glad you got in on this." Ty told her. "Now come on, mom's waiting for us to come down for supper, and she's waiting for your big news."

"Yeah, okay." Abby nodded. "I'm coming." She walked back to her bed, grabbing her script and shoving it under her pillow just in case her mom decided to come snooping. She didn't want her mom seeing it until she had a chance to read the rest of it. There was no telling how she would react if she knew what it was about. Once her script was safely hidden, she turned to join her brother on his way down for dinner.

***

The line in Ringworm Jr. High seemed unusually long the next day as Abby waited patiently for her turn to get some lunch. She tapped one foot on the ground with her arms folded over her stomach. Ty was already seated at one of the nearby tables, sipping on his milk while he waited for her to join him. She hated being late anywhere, lunch least of all. Her parents often asked how she could eat so much and stay so thin… she didn't know, but she was definitely grateful.

She glanced back over her shoulder when she heard a pair of light footsteps move behind her in the line, then promptly faced forward again. It was Paige, whose face looked unusually thoughtful and pensive. Abby glanced back at her again a moment later and flashed her a nervous twitch of her mouth, which was met with one of Paige's own. The tension and nervousness was palpable. Had Paige read the script too?

In another few tense moments she heard Paige huff from behind her. "Okay, enough is enough." Abby gasped when she felt a hand grab her bicep, yanking her out of line and out into the hallway.

"Wha-heeyyyy!" Abby complained, but was too stunned to struggle as Paige pulled her towards one of the janitor's closets and closed the door behind them.

Paige whirled on her once the door was shut, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay, obviously we both read the script and we both thought the same thing."

"Ewe?"

"Exactly." Paige nodded. "But you know what? I am not going to let that ruin this. We are going to do this like professionals, because this could be the first step, my big break into superstardom, and I won't let YOU or anybody else stop me from doing my best."

Abby was a bit surprised. "Actually, I was going to say the same thing. I don't want this thing we have going to ruin this play any more than you do, I want it to work."

"Good." Paige nodded as if that settled the matter. "Then let's try to get over it by our first rehearsal next week, okay? In the meantime, make sure you study that script VERY CAREFULLY!"

Abby frowned. "I've done this before, Paige, I know how to act. I did play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, remember?" Abby couldn't help a wry smirk.

Paige huffed at the reminder and yanked the closet door open behind her, giving Abby a death glare. "Just don't suck, Archer. There WILL be retribution if you ruin this for me." She whirled and stomped out of the closet, slamming the door behind her with a bang.

To Be Continued


	2. A Kiss is a Kiss

Chapter 02: A Kiss Is A Kiss

A week had passed, and Abby had already read the script once per day every single day. She was still turning it over in her mind, examining the story and characters from every possible angle. The more she read it, the more she understood what it was trying to say, but she wasn't really comfortable with telling her mom what it was about. She had no idea how she would react, it was just easier to say she was a star in the play and leave it at that. She didn't like hiding it, but it would come out on its own eventually.

"Well, good luck, Abby." Ty told her with a smile and a wink. "You have a long way to go before you're ready for the big stage, but I know you can get there."

"Thanks, Ty." Abby smiled. "I appreciate that. I'll let you know how it went when I get home." She flashed him a smile, then with a wave turned to head into the auditorium in the center of town where the show was going to be put on a long time from then. They had a long way to go indeed, but Abby knew her position in the play wasn't sealed quite yet. She had to keep up her performance standards, or her understudy would step up to take her role from her.

The auditorium was already filled with kids from Ringworm Middle School up on the stage with scripts in hand, reciting lines to one-another in loud, dramatic voices while the director stood off to one side, watching with what seemed like a lazy gaze, but which Abby was sure was the critical eye of a master director.

Abby approached the director with a broad smile on her face and an eager bounce in her step. "I'm here, Director! Ready to start my path towards understanding this part to be the best Rose I can be!"

The director chuckled and shook his head. "Glad to hear it, Abby, but please, kissing up isn't going to make things go any smoother. In fact, I'd prefer if you just be straight with me… and call me Charlie, I hate formal titles."

"Sure, whatever you say." Abby smiled.

"Great." Charlie smiled. "Now go ahead and do any last minute readings you want to get out of the way before we start proper rehearsals. We're just going to be doing initial runs today, to get a feel for how the scenes should play out. Costumes and sets should start coming in in a few weeks."

"Yes sir!" Abby gave a quick salute and a grin, then turned to head toward the stage, rushing up onto it.

Once everyone was gathered for the scenes they were scheduled to rehearse, the rehearsals began in earnest. There were many pauses and questions about how things should be done, a fact that seemed to please Charlie immensely. He was very patient with them, explaining how and why they were doing everything. He even paused several times to explain what the characters were thinking and why the scene was playing out the way it was. The more Abby watched him work, the more excited it made her. This guy knew what he was doing. He could carry them all the way to the top, she was sure of it.

"There is nothing to fear, Rose." Paige placed a gentle hand on Abby's shoulder, turning her toward her to meet her eye-to-eye. "We need not fear the barbs of hatred that the world may hurl, for I am your shield, and you are mine." She closed her eyes dramatically, squeezing her hand softly on Abby's shoulder.

Charlie clapped his hands lightly and stepped up towards the stage. "A brilliant performance, Paige, I could practically feel your comfort out HERE."

Paige grinned. "I always do my best, sir. Er, Charlie."

"You too, Abby. You looked like you were in agony." Abby flashed him a smile and a slight blush. "Now I'd like to see one more scene before we wrap up for the evening. Scene 5 in Act 3." Abby and Paige both whipped out their scripts and opened them to the appropriate page, then paled slightly. He wanted to do one of THOSE scenes already?

"Alright." Abby forced a calm smile onto her lips and approached the small loveseat they'd dragged in to use when the scene called for a bed or chair. She laid down across the arms of the loveseat, getting as comfy as she could and closing her eyes, since she was supposed to be sleeping here.

"Okay, and… go." Charlie said.

Abby gulped and listening to Paige speak to one of the other actresses on set in a harsh, angry tone. Abby stayed where she was, blissfully oblivious to what was going on, as she was supposed to be until the very end of the scene. She stayed where she was, daring to crack her eyes only slightly when she heard the exchange between Paige and the other actress come to an end and a pair of footsteps approached the love seat.

"Oh Rose, my heart weeps. I am so sorry I've brought this down on you." Paige closed her eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh, placing one of her palms gently against her forehead. "To see you in pain was the last thing in the world I ever would have wanted." She took a deep breath, stroking her palm from her forehead down to her cheek. "If only your eyes hadn't captured my heart…" She leaned down slowly, bending at the waist to move closer to her.

Paige seemed to hesitate about halfway down, her eyes shooting nervously around at the watching actors around them and Charlie, who was watching intently from the front of the stage. She glanced down at Abby again, who remained stock still, her lips halfway open in her imitation of sleep. Paige moved slightly closer, pursing her lips as her face slowly moved closer to Abby's. Abby could see the nervousness in her eyes. She didn't think she'd ever seen the girl like this… wait, this couldn't be her first kiss, could it?

Suddenly Paige stood up straight. "You know, I was thinking maybe this scene doesn't call for a kiss, maybe a hug or a pat on the shoulder would work better."

Abby's arm shot up from the loveseat. "Agreed!"

"Uh-huh…" Charlie stroked his chin with one hand, watching them with a critical eye for a moment before gesturing for them to approach him. "Can I talk to you two for a second?" Abby and Paige exchanged a worried glance, then Abby rose from the loveseat to approach the director with Paige right beside her. "Alright girls, let's talk. Do you two have a problem with parts of the script?"

"A problem? No no!" Paige insisted. "It's just… um…"

"Some parts seem a bit… unnecessary?" Abby added with a nervous smile.

"Well, I respect that viewpoint, and I respectfully disagree." Charlie nodded. "The right of two people to express their love without fear of the world is entirely what this story is about." Abby and Paige exchanged another glance and a gulp. "If you two don't want to do it, I most certainly can't make you, and if this is going to be a continuing problem going forward I need to know right now so I can find other roles for you two and cast others who are willing to do these roles. You'll be in the play either way, I just want to make sure you're comfortable."

"No!" Paige insisted instantly. "I want this role! I wanna keep this role!"

"Yeah, me too!" Abby nodded emphatically. "I think I'd be really good at it!"

Charlie sighed and ran one hand through his hair, giving them an understanding smile. "Then I don't mean to pressure you, but I need you two to go a little extra distance for me if this play is going to be everything I envisioned it to be." He looked back and forth between the two girls with a soft gaze. "We'll be rehearsing again in two days, and I expect you two to be ready to rehearse these scenes by then. If you decide that it's not worth it, that's okay too, I have other roles you can fill, so there's no shame in refusing to do this. I just need an answer soon so that I know my stars are comfortable with everything I'm asking them to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Abby and Paige both looked down slightly in shame. It would have been easy to be indignant if he tried to make them do it, but he was being so understanding about the whole thing it just made them feel bad for letting him down.

"Charlie." Charlie smiled and gave them a wink before standing up straight, speaking loud enough to address everyone present. "Alright, good job today everyone, I think we've really started to get into the spirit of our characters, and what the story is all about. Rest up, enjoy your day off tomorrow, and we'll be back in two days to get right back to work again."

Abby and Paige left the building in the fiery orange light of dusk, walking together for perhaps the first time in their lives while the rest of the actors filed out around them in clumps, chattering excitedly among themselves. They turned to walk down the sidewalk, both of them looking down at the pavement until finally Paige broke the silence.

"We're going to have to get over this, unless you're willing to step down and let me keep my role."

"Not a chance." Abby smirked.

"Then we'll spend tomorrow practicing." Paige nodded firmly, as if that decided everything.

"Practicing?" Abby blinked. "Practicing… what? Kissing? All day?" The thought of spending an entire day doing just that made her blush, no matter who the person on the receiving end was.

"If that's what it takes." Paige nodded firmly and crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not losing this role because of something so stupid, so… come over to my house tomorrow and we'll work on it." With that, Paige sped up, walking ahead of her and leaving her behind as if what they were going to be doing was already decided. Abby stared after her dumbfounded, and a bit annoyed that she'd just been TOLD what to do. Well, she knew Paige was right this time, anyway. If they wanted to keep their parts in the play, they had to get over this…

***

Abby had never been to Paige's house before. It turned out the girl had to have been loaded with money, because her house was easily double the size of Abby's, with a sloped roof that glinted in the bright afternoon light, and a cement walkway that led around the side of the building to a backyard that must have been as big as Abby's entire house. After she finished gawking at the sight before her, she made her way up to the large front door and pressed the doorbell.

Paige opened the door in a few moments, wearing a different outfit than usual. She was wearing a pink spaghetti strap tanktop that hung off of her bone thin frame. Beneath that she wore a more flowing miniskirt that flowed outward from her thighs as she moved.

She was fanning herself with a paper fan as she looked out at Abby, raising one of her eyebrows. "What are you doing wearing that sweater in this heat?" She asked. "Take it off, you're making me hot just looking at you."

"Thank you." Abby huffed and quickly slipped her sweater off as she stepped inside, leaving herself in a plain white T-shirt. She was about to head further in when she heard Paige cough. She glanced to the side and saw the blonde girl pointing at her shoes. Paige herself was already barefoot. "Oh, sorry. Didn't know there were so many rules here." She hung her sweater neatly on the coat rack by the door and knelt down to pull her shoes and socks off, setting them under the coat-rack with several other pairs.

"Mom says either I follow the rules or I fix them when I break them, and I hate cleaning." Paige shrugged and turned to head inside, walking across the thick white carpet that blanketed the living room and adjacent den. "Easier just to keep the shoes off the carpet than to clean the mud stains."

"Yeah, I can agree with that." Abby smiled and followed, actually gasping lightly at how soft the carpet felt between her bare toes. It was like walking on cotton candy. She couldn't help putting a little extra bounce in her step just to feel the carpet spring beneath her.

"Mom, Abby's here, we're going up to my room!" Paige shouted further into the house.

"Okay, have fun with your little friend!" A woman's voice came back.

Paige mumbled something under her breath that sounded like 'yeah, right, friend' and turned to head up a flight of heavily carpeted stairs, gesturing for Abby to follow. "Come on Archer, and don't touch anything." Abby frowned at her curt manner, but followed her up the stairs anyway. She couldn't afford to start a fight, they had to get ready for their rehearsals tomorrow. Just focus on the play, she thought to herself, focus on the play…

They moved down a luxurious white hallway with smartly placed windows up to one of the bedrooms in the far corner of the house, which Paige opened for her. Abby went in, then gave an appreciative whistle. The room was decorated with all sorts of different fancy fabrics, which even hung from the bedposts. It would be really awesome if it wasn't so very… pink.

"You really like your pink, don't you?" Abby smirked.

"Yeah, so what?" Paige replied. "At least I know HOW to color-coordinate." Abby looked back at her and stuck out her tongue. "Real mature."

Abby pulled her tongue back into her mouth with a smirk, then suddenly she remembered exactly why they were here. She blushed again and turned away from Paige, clasping her hands in front of her. "Hey, I have a question…" Abby coughed. "Have you ever… kissed, before?"

"Not really…" Paige replied with a thoughtful tone. "You?"

"Uh-uh…" Abby turned to look back at Paige with a half-smirk. "Heck of a first-time, huh?"

"Bah, it's no big deal." Paige shrugged.

"Seemed like you thought it was a big deal during the rehearsal yesterday." Abby pointed out.

Paige blushed slightly and forced another furious shrug. "I said it doesn't matter, it's just a stupid kiss!" Abby wasn't sure she believed that. If that was really Paige's attitude, she wouldn't have hesitated yesterday. Was she just posturing to look tough? "Let's just get it over with, we have to be comfortable with this or we lose our spots in the play."

"Right, so… how do we do this?" Abby chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "We could use a little music, maybe some flowers, chocolates…" Paige's eyes narrowed dangerously, so Abby stopped and shook her head. "You don't have to be so intense… we should just relax, that's how it works best, right?"

Paige blushed and grumbled, clearly agitated by something. Abby thought for a moment the girl was going to try to slap her, but instead she put her hands on her hips commandingly. "I've got it, we'll rehearse the scene we were doing. Lay down on the bed." Abby wanted to complain about being bossed around again, but truthfully, she just wanted to get this over with. So she approached the bed and lied down, closing her eyes as she was supposed to do.

She heard Paige pad up next to the bed, stopping above her. Abby cracked her eyes slightly to watch the girl staring down at her with an almost worried look on her face. This was definitely troubling her, Abby thought to herself. Why wouldn't she just admit it? This would probably be a lot easier if she wasn't so deadest on looking tough and commanding.

"Oh Rose, my heart weeps. I am so sorry I've brought this down on you." Paige gulped and took a deep breath as her hand moved to Abby's forehead, just like before. "To see you in pain was the last thing in the world I ever would have wanted." She took another deep breath, stroking her palm from her forehead down to her cheek. "If only your eyes hadn't captured my heart…" She leaned down slowly, her hand softly pushing Abby's cheek to one side to make her head face straight up towards her.

Even through cracked eyelids, Abby could see the blonde girl shaking. Abby closed her eyes to wait for Paige to do what she was doing… but their lips never touched. Instead she felt something sit on the edge of the bed beside her with a heavy, almost defeated sigh. Abby opened her eyes and half sat up, looking at Paige curiously. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped in her lap.

"Paige? Do you have a problem with kissing?" Abby asked in a soft, concerned voice.

Paige glared back at her for a moment, then seemed to lose it, shaking her head and turning to face forward again, her shoulders slumped. "I don't want to kiss you…"

"Why not?" Abby asked. "Besides the fact that I'm me, of course." She smiled at her own attempt at a joke, but Paige's lip didn't even twitch. "I won't tease you, I'm actually kind of worried. I've never seen you like this."

Paige looked back at her with a calmer look this time, then turned to face her, resting her knee on the bed in front of her. "I don't know, I just… mom always said that I was a princess and that I would meet a prince someday… a prince who would be my everything, my first everything, my first kiss… kisses are supposed to be special. Princes are supposed to be special…"

Abby blinked in surprise, giving Paige a curious look now. This was something she'd never expected… but then, her own mother had always told her not to judge people by how they look, or even how they act. So many people put on an act for others to hide what they really were… heck, Abby knew about that better than anyone. Was this what Paige really was? A girl who was so full of herself because that was what her mother told her she should be? A princess?

"Stop looking at me like that." Paige huffed. "I can see you laughing at me inside."

"No, I'm not." Abby shook her head. "And kissing is special… that's why it means so much to Charlie. It's something people do when they know they really like each other."

"I don't like you…" Paige replied.

Abby crept up closer to her and placed a hand on her knee, putting a hand on her cheek to make her meet her eyes. Paige looked at her in surprise at the bold moves. "I've never liked you much either, Paige… but you're stronger than this. You're strong enough to do what we have to do to make this play work… and it won't take anything away when you finally do meet the right person for you. Because my mom always told me that when you meet that person, it will always be special… no matter what came before, or what comes after."

"Abby…" Paige didn't seem angry or cocky for once, instead she seemed almost… grateful. Steeling herself for just a moment, Abby leaned forward and pursed her lips, pressing them against Paige's with a gentle touch. Paige didn't pull away, or gasp, she just left their lips together for several moments, her hands finding Abby's between them and clutching them tightly, as if still a bit afraid. Abby didn't let go of them for a few moments while they held the kiss, and soon, she let it come to an end, moving back and looking at her.

Paige was panting, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she stared at Abby's eyes. "Th-that…" Abby panted as well, feeling something rising in her chest, an almost electric feeling that was unfamiliar and a bit startling, but not unpleasant. "That… didn't happen." Paige pushed her away suddenly, sending her reeling back on the bed away from her. "It didn't happen, it… none of it happened."

Abby sighed. "Yeah, you're welcome…"

Paige stood up from the bed, her face still bright red after the kiss. "Well, I think we've gotten over our issue, I'll see you at rehearsals tomorrow."

"Already? I thought you wanted to make sure we were comfortable with-"

"I don't think that's necessary." Paige looked almost panicked, pointing towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right…" Abby slid off the bed and stood up straight on the carpet, turning to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Paige…" Abby turned to leave, heading downstairs to slip her shoes and sweater back on, then making her way out the front door.

She was having trouble figuring out what Paige was thinking… but it definitely gave Abby something to stew over. There was more to the girl than she'd ever guessed before, of that she could be certain. What was she so afraid of…?

To Be Continued


	3. Peering Under the Mask

Chapter 03: Peering Under the Mask

The next day Abby was surprised that she didn't run into Paige at all during school hours. She usually ran into her at least once, as if the girl was just seeking her out to dish out her special brand of torment. She was nowhere to be found today, though, even in passing in the hallways, even though some of their classes were so close to one-another. Was Paige outright avoiding her? It shouldn't have been much of a surprise, she supposed, but it did bother her…

After school was over she made her way straight to the auditorium in the center of town, where they were supposed to be rehearsing again. She arrived at nearly the same time as Paige, surprised to find that they were coming down the sidewalk from opposite directions even though they were both coming from school. Paige blinked when she saw Abby approach, but otherwise walked with her usual air of overwhelming confidence.

"Hey, I was hoping you'd show up." Paige smirked as if nothing had happened. "You better be ready to nail those scenes today."

"Yeah, of course I am." Abby cocked her head curiously at the attitude. Was this an act she was putting on? Or was what happened in her bedroom the act? Why would she fake something like that?

"Stop staring, Archer, and let's get going." Paige huffed impatiently and turned to head inside. Abby followed, still silently musing to herself in her mind about Paige's strange behavior.

They were confronted just inside the door by Charlie, who was welcoming the performers with smiles and grateful nods. "Ah, my stars." He told the girls as they moved into the auditorium. "Have you made your decisions about what role you'd like to play?"

"We'll keep what we have, thank you." Paige smirked. "We're professionals, we can handle it just fine."

"I'm very glad to hear that." Charlie nodded and waved them in with a pleased smile. "Go ahead and join the others then, we'll continue as soon as everyone is here."

"Thank you." Paige nodded and moved past him, with Abby following on her heels.

The rehearsal went just fine, though Abby thought it was kind of a jerk move that Charlie made them begin at the scene they left off on the day before. This time, however, Paige carried through with the kiss like the pro she wanted to be, much to the surprise of the rest of the cast, and the delight of every boy present. Boys were so childish, Abby thought to herself in disgust, but she decided to ignore it. Instead she spent the rest of the day trying to figure out Paige. They spent an awful lot of time together since they were the main characters, but Paige rarely said anything to her outside of the script. When she did speak, it was to demand cocoa.

Abby decided not to push the issue during the rehearsal, but once it was over Abby whirled to find Paige, only to see that she was already on her way out the door. "Hey, Paige, wait!" Abby rushed after her, being forced to run down the sidewalk in her wake. The girl was walking pretty fast, almost like she was trying to get away.

"Paige, hold on, I wanna talk to you!" Abby reached her at last and fell into step beside her.

"About what?" Paige spoke gruffly.

"Well…" Abby hesitated a moment. "You did really good in there… I think we've both improved a lot in just the last two days."

"Yeah, guess so." Paige replied gruffly.

Abby looked down at the sidewalk for a moment, then up at Paige. "Y'know, I've been to your house, but you've still never been to mine. Maybe you could come over and we could rehearse a bit more."

"Don't need to." Paige replied again in a curt, dismissive manner. Abby was started to get angry with this. Whatever the girl's problem was, it was no reason to be so rude.

So she tried a different approach. "You know, Paige, I'm really glad we're getting to know each other. Maybe all those years we spent fighting weren't really necessary after all, since we probably have so much in common underneath our differences."

"No. We. Don't." Paige turned to give her the evil eye. "We are not friends, we will not be friends, and I do not want to come to that lump in the ground you call a home." Abby's eyes widened in shock. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a nice, relaxing bubble bath waiting for me, okay?" She flashed Abby a mocking smile, then turned to walk rapidly down the sidewalk again, leaving Abby staring after her with wide eyes.

Abby stood dumbfounded for a few moments. That was perhaps even worse than the mockery she usually received from Paige. She could take a haughty, self-righteous punk making brainless comments about her, but having Paige completely blow her off like she was irrelevant actually stung deep, especially after she opened up so much yesterday. It was like she'd completely closed herself off… wait, was this another act? Was she just trying to keep Abby away?

Abby's eyes narrowed. Paige was definitely hiding something… but if there was one thing her Grossology training had taught her to do, it was find clues that other people didn't want her to find. She wouldn't let Paige brush her off anymore.

***

Abby whirled in her bedroom, whipping off her sweater and her usual slacks, tossing them on top of the bed and throwing her closet open. She lifted her arms moments later, a black sweater slipping down over her torso, followed quickly by a tight black pair of sweat pants over her legs. Black gloves slid up her arms to her elbows over her sweater, while a pair of black leather boots swept up from her feet to her knees. She also whipped a black scarf out of the closet, pulling her lengthy red hair up into it in a bundle against the back of her head, concealing it from view.

"Sorry Paige, but I'm going to figure out what your problem is, whether you tell me or not." Abby whirled and opened her window, slipping out into the night like a shadow in the darkness.

Paige's house loomed large out of the shadows, outlined in the full moon that seemed unusually bright and large in the sky. Abby crept up to the side of the house, looking up at the window to Paige's room, knowing she was asleep inside. Abby took a few steps back on the cool grass, then launched herself forward, slamming her foot into the wall with enough force to kick herself up the side of the wall. Her fingers grabbed onto the windowsill and she hauled herself further up, resting on one leg on the outside of the windowsill.

The room inside was dark, but she reached into her sweater and pulled out a spare pair of the Grossologist visor she kept on hand for emergencies. It slipped easily over her eyes and activated instantly, turning on a night-vision mode that allowed her to see into the dark room. She could see Paige asleep in her massive silken bed, her chest rising and falling softly against her blankets while her curly blonde hair spread out around her head on the massive and fluffy pillow.

The window slid open, and Abby slipped inside, landing lightly on the thick carpet and looking around the room. Slowly she padded across the carpet, making her way up to the side of the bed. Paige was sleeping peacefully, her lips actually turned upward in something of a smile. It occurred to Abby that she'd never seen Paige smile without any venom in her eyes. Even in the dull green tint of her night-vision, Paige actually looked very pretty.

Now, Abby thought to herself. Where would Paige keep her journal where nobody would look and yet she could keep an eye on it? Well, there were the obvious places, she thought to herself as she eyed the nightstand beside the bed. She crept up to it as silently as she could, pulling the drawer open and glancing quickly through the assorted knickknacks inside. It took her only a couple of seconds to spot the thick journal sitting underneath a small bag of unused ponytail holders, which seemed strange since she'd never seen Paige put her hair up before.

The journal slid free of the drawer and then the drawer closed, allowing Abby to make her way back toward the window with her prize clutched under one arm. The window slid shut behind her and she dropped to the grass lightly in a crouch, rushing back home through the night as quickly as she could.

The lamp beside her bed clicked on and Abby took a moment to examine the brown leather cover in her hand for a moment. She thought maybe she should take it back and forget this whole thing, reading another girl's private journal was just mean… but then again, it could be for Paige's own good. It was obvious something was bothering her, if it was something Abby could help with, she needed to know what it was in order to help her.

So she slipped the visor off of her eyes, turned on the small lamp on the nightstand beside her bed, and plopped down with her legs crossed before her and the book in her lap, flipping it open and skimming through a few pages until one caught her eye, an entry from three years ago.

_Marco held my hand today! Oh my Gosh I can't believe he held my hand! I've been watching him for so long I didn't think he even knew what I looked like, then ever since we started talking two days ago it was like something just HAPPENED! Oohhh my stomach has been fluttering ever since! Oh Marco, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…_

Abby couldn't help laughing and shaking her head in disbelief. It was difficult to imagine haughty, arrogant Paige ever thinking this way about anybody, even a boy she thought was cute. It was actually kind of endearing. She moved on to the next entry, which was a few days later. Apparently Paige didn't update her journal much.

_He kissed me! Eeeeee! I can't believe it, it's like I've walked into one of those movies mom lets me watch all the time! Oh Marco, Marco, marry me already! Please!_

"Awww." Abby chuckled again. It was actually pretty cute, imagining little Paige head over heels for some little boy in her class. Probably plucking flowers in some field somewhere and pulling off the petals wondering how much he loves her. With an eager smile she turned to the next page, her quest forgotten in her bid to see how things turned out with Marco. Wait… hadn't Paige said she'd never kissed before? Weird, Abby thought as she read on.

_I had another argument with Lisa today, man am I getting tired of her attitude. All because I can't find that tank top she loaned me the other day. I think it's time for me to just ditch her. In fact, yeah, forget her._

There was more on that page, but Abby was too stunned to continue. There wasn't a single mention of Marco anywhere on it. There wasn't even a mention of him in any of the later pages either. She was dumbfounded. How is such a powerful crush just forgotten in such a short time? Wait, it wasn't… this entry was dated several months after the last one.

Now that she looked closely, she saw the jagged edges of several pages close to the book's spine. She'd actually ripped pages out of her diary… what could possibly make a girl do that? Now she was sure there was something wrong with Paige. If the journal wouldn't tell her secrets, she would just have to get the answers from the girl herself…

***

The next day at school, Abby again noticed that Paige was avoiding her, skirting down other hallways when she saw her, but this time Abby wasn't content to let that be. She followed the girl around as best she could without arousing suspicion, watching her go through her day. Paige was joined by her two followers after a couple of minutes, who fell into step behind her like a couple of drones after a moment of light conversation during which Paige didn't say much.

They walked through the day without saying or doing a whole lot. Paige remained strangely silent, though her usual arrogant smirk was present in full force. At one point one of her friends stepped up beside her to speak.

"You've been pretty quiet today, Paige." She spoke in a soft voice. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm just fine." Paige rolled her eyes. "Maybe I just don't feel like talking, is that a crime?"

"N-no." The girl shrank back, as if afraid of incurring her master's wrath. "I was just concerned…"

"Well don't be!" Paige whirled on her angrily. "I can take care of myself, and I don't need your pity!"

"Aiiee!" The girl jumped back in surprise, stammering out an apology. "I know, y-you're strong! I'm sorry, you're the best, coolest, prettiest, strongest!"

"Best at everything!" Her companion added with a nervous smile.

"Hrmph." Paige growled bitterly and put her hands on her hips, turning away from them. "I'll see you girls tomorrow, I feel like being alone today." With that she walked away, leaving her entourage staring after her like puppies who had just been abandoned in the middle of the desert. Abby nodded silently to herself and bit her lip. Paige was still acting so strangely… she was going to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.

The final bell rung two hours later, releasing the school's young occupants into the wild where they could roam free. Paige tried to escape quickly down the sidewalk, but Abby had already been waiting by the front steps by the time she emerged. The Grossologist turned to follow close behind her, shoving her hands into her pockets and walking with her like they were old friends until the school was out of sight.

"Are you really okay, Paige?" Abby asked.

Paige's head jerked around to look at her over her shoulder, stopping dead in her tracks. A slight smirk tugged at her lip a moment later. "Let you into my house one time and you think we're buddies, huh? You're like an annoying bitch that doesn't know where she's not wanted."

"I know something's bothering you." Abby didn't even acknowledge the insult. "What I don't get is why you refuse to talk to anyone about it. Is it really just because your mom told you that kissing is special? There's got to be more to it."

"Nope, I'm afraid not, Miss Detective." Paige turned toward her and shook her head. "Not that It's any of your business either way, but I'm perfectly fine. I don't need you or anyone else to prop me up, I can handle any problems I may have on my own."

"But why do you want to?" Abby asked. "That has to be lonely."

"I'll let someone help me when they're actually worthy of doing so, which certainly isn't YOU of all people." Paige let out a haughty laugh and turned away from her again. "We're costars, Abby, that's all we are, all we've been, and all we're ever going to be, now quit stalking me." She moved to leave, her arms swaying at her sides.

"What about Marco?" Abby grasped at the last straw she could think of. Paige froze up on the spot, her back stiffening and her fists clenching at her sides. "Did you trust him?"

"How the Hell do you know that name?" Paige whirled on her, her baby blue eyes flaring in genuine anger. When Abby didn't immediately answer she marched up to Abby, her lip curling back into a vicious snarl. "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME!?"

"I just…" Abby gaped, taken completely aback. She wasn't sure what reaction she'd expected, but certainly not the blind rage she saw before her. Paige's eyes glared into hers, making her feel weak and small under their gaze, because she knew Paige's anger was justified for once. She should have respected Paige's privacy, she shouldn't have mentioned what she read, so many things she shouldn't have done…

"Well!?" Paige demanded and grabbed the front of her sweater, gripping it tightly and yanking her closer with a wild glare in her eyes. "You were so talkative a minute ago, now talk!"

"Paige, come on, let go." Abby squirmed uncomfortably. If she wasn't quite so angry, Abby might have confessed. As it was, she was really afraid Paige would attack her. "This isn't funny, and you're not impressing anybody."

"Tell me!" Paige shook her angrily, so Abby raised one hand and brought it around in a sharp slap across the cheek. She was only trying to jerk the girl back to sanity, she never expected Paige to completely lose it.

"Aiiagh!" Abby shrieked in surprise when Paige launched into a full body tackle, slamming her back up against the side of a nearby building. Almost on reflex Abby brought both of her hands up underneath Paige's shoulders, slamming both of her fists into them with enough force to send the girl stumbling back. "Have you lost your mind!?"

"Shut up!" Paige shot back venomously and charged her again, grabbing her sweater and shoving her roughly against the wall. "I don't care how you found out, I just don't want to hear you say that name again."

"I said let go of me!" Abby brought her hand around again, but Paige dodged this one, and mere seconds later Abby found herself slamming into the ground grappling with her blonde rival. They both fought to gain control, and Abby had thought with her Grossology training it would be easy, but Paige was almost as athletic as she was, and she was currently driven by blind, unyielding rage. Scratches ripped at both of them, and blows were landed with vicious intent all over their stomachs, torsos, they even landed a couple of blows on each other's head.

Suddenly Paige brought one of her legs up, slamming her knee sharply into Abby's side. Abby rolled off of her to her back, and Paige was on her in an instant, bringing her fist back and down with brutal efficiency. Abby's head snapped back with a pained grunt as the fist slammed into her cheek, then lashed out again to slam into her eye. The blows finally stopped when Abby raised her arms up to protect her face, squeaking in pain.

When she realized the barrage had ended, Abby lowered her arms, seeing Paige straddling her waist, panting heavily with her shoulder-length blonde hair in disarray around her head. There was a trickle of blood on the side of her mouth from a cut on her lip, and a bruise forming on her cheek, though she ignored them both.

Abby was panting herself, probably looking worse than Paige after those last two blows. She didn't move or say anything to provoke Paige again. Instead she just stared up at her with their chests heaving in exhaustion after the long tussle.

After a short time, Paige gulped and climbed off of Abby, rising to her feet, still staring down at her. As the anger faded from her eyes, Abby thought she saw a flash of regret pass through them. Her voice was shaking only slightly when she spoke. "Mind your own business, Archer… and stay out of my life." She turned to leave, straightening her clothes as she made her way down the sidewalk.

Abby sat up once she was sure Paige wasn't coming back, suddenly very aware of her heart racing in her chest and the trickle of blood running into her lips. She spit the blood on the sidewalk and reached up to wipe some from her nose on the back of her hand as she pushed herself up from the sidewalk. She couldn't go home like this, that was certain… at least she always had a home away from home she could go to.

To Be Continued


	4. Lifting the Mask

Chapter 04: Lifting the Mask

The Gag Lab was where Abby sometimes came when she didn't feel like showing her face aboveground. Lab Rat was always glad to see her too, even when it seemed like everyone else just wanted her to go away. So it was with a warm smile that she made her way into the Gag Lab with a tissue held over her nose to stop the bleeding as best she could. She found Lab Rat sitting at his computer desk, though he wasn't doing research. The sound of shouting and explosions were coming from the video game on the screen.

"This game has some great graphics, doesn't it Hermes?" Lab Rat said with a chuckle. "You can practically feel the blood splatter on the walls."

"The mark of a true piece of art." Abby quipped with a half-smile.

"Abby!" Lab Rat whirled in surprise with a smile, which quickly faded when he saw her. "Abby!? Are you okay? What happened to you?" He quickly rushed to her side, slipping an arm around her waist to help her. She winced and grunted when his arm slipped over the bruise where Paige's knee had connected. "Oh, oh, sorry, careful. Come on, why don't you let me take a look at you?" He carefully led her over to the table in the center of the room, pulling out a chair and helping her sit down.

"Thanks." Abby heaved a sigh of relief to be off her feet. "I tried to talk to Paige earlier and things didn't go like I'd hoped."

"Paige did this to you?" Lab Rat lifted his eyebrow. "I figured you could take her."

"Hey, I wasn't expecting it, alright?" Abby huffed.

"Alright, alright. I'm gonna lift your shirt a bit, okay?" Lab Rat asked. Abby nodded and lifted her arms so Lab Rat could lift her sweater and shirt off of her stomach, grimacing slightly at the sight of the large bruise forming on her side, and several smaller ones dotting her stomach. "You two must have really had it out."

Abby nodded. "I've never seen her like that before. It's like she completely lost her mind." Lab Rat let her shirt down, then moved across the Gag Lab to pull some things out of one of the desk drawers he could use to treat her wounds. "She just won't talk to me about what's been bothering her, and whatever it is is just getting worse."

"I thought you and Paige were mortal enemies." Lab Rat pointed out as he approached her again and pulled her hand away from her face to treat the bruises there first and wipe away the dried blood with one of his washrags. "Why do you even care what's bothering her? Why not just leave her alone and let her deal with it?"

"Yeah, well…" Abby shook her head slightly, though she was careful not to disturb him as he washed her face. "I just don't know. For one day it was like we actually started to get along, and I really liked it. She wasn't so bad once she stopped making fun of me, and she's actually a really good actor. I just don't know why she's acting like this."

"Well you can't make someone be your friend, Abby, you know that as well as anyone." Lab Rat told her as he finished wiping at her face, then pulled her sweater and shirt up from her stomach. She grabbed the clothes to hold them out of his way while he went to work cleaning the bruises down there, then rubbing some blissfully cooling salve on them. "Sometimes the best you can do with someone is just let them know you're willing to help, and see if they come to you."

Abby nodded. "Yeah, you're right… it really is none of my business, and if she doesn't want my help, I can't force it…" She watched Lab Rat apply the salve to the last of the bruises, then take the ice-pack and press it against the large one on her side. "Oooh!"

"This'll help the swelling on that bad boy, just hold it there for a while." Lab Rat told her. Abby nodded and reached down to hold the ice-pack in place while Lab Rat stood up straight and gave her a comforting smile. "You can hang around here for a while before you go home, if you want. I just got this new game this morning that I think you would find interesting."

"Paid for by the Bureau?" Abby replied with a soft snicker.

"Hey, it was necessary to make sure our computers are still top-of-the-line." Lab Rat winked. "What kind of secret organization runs on outdated hardware?"

"Guess I can't argue with that." Abby smiled. "Alright then, let's see it."

***

Abby decided to take Lab Rat's advice, and leave Paige to her own devices for the next couple of weeks. Aside from a gentle touch and a smile at rehearsal the next day, she didn't say anything to the girl, or interact with her in any notable way. Paige still looked understandably upset, but didn't attack or snap at her again. Rehearsal that day went as well as ever, though there was still a definite coldness in Paige's eyes that made Abby wary, but she didn't bring it up.

Things stayed this way for the next several weeks. They came together for the rehearsal, and then promptly went their separate ways. They worked hard to make sure their performances were as good as could be, and they were both steadily improving, but sometimes Abby thought she caught sight of Charlie shaking his head during one of their scenes together. It was possible he noticed the tension between them… but there was nothing she could do about it even if he had.

One day as the actors milled about in the auditorium waiting for the day's rehearsals to start, Charlie walked into the building with a broad grin on his face, addressing them all with a wave of his hands. "I have big news! Today we'll be having our very first dress rehearsal, because the costumes you'll all be wearing have just arrived." He waved behind him as several other men in blue outfits came in, pushing several racks of very fine-looking clothing with them.

"Hey, nice! It's about time!" Paige exclaimed with a grin while the rest of the cast started chattering among themselves.

"Everyone line up to get your costumes, and you can change in the rooms in the back. We need to make sure they fit, and perhaps having these will help you understand your characters just a little bit better." Charlie moved towards the racks. "Single line, please, no need for shoving and fighting, the costumes aren't going anywhere."

Abby slipped into line with the others, eager to see what kind of outfit Rose would be wearing. She seemed like a gentle, outwardly conscious kind of character, so it had to be something modest, she thought to herself.

She could barely contain her eagerness until she reached the front and Charlie smiled down at her, holding out a black and white dress dangling freely from a hanger, with a pair of shining white shoes in his other hand. "Here you go, Rose. Made just for you, in your size. Let me know if it doesn't fit."

"Thanks!" Abby snatched the dress from him and ran towards the girls' dressing rooms. She slipped inside and rushed to one of the stalls, where she quickly disrobed and slipped the dress on over her head, brushing it down with both hands before slipping her shoes on. When she was dressed she opened the door, and was instantly greeted by the sight of herself in the mirror.

"Oh wow, so cool!" She giggled to herself. The dress was beautiful, a sleeveless gown that flowed down around her knees in layers of black and white fabric, while the top came inward across her chest and back until the very top closed tightly around her neck, where a collar came up right underneath her chin. Prominently displayed on her chest was a glittering jewel. It was obviously fake, but it was still very beautiful. "This has got to be the greatest dress ever."

"Too bad you're going to be upstaged, Archer." Paige's haughty voice said from behind her. Abby turned to look behind her at one of the other stalls, freezing when she spotted Paige.

Paige was standing with her hands on her hips and a cocky grin on her face, wearing a pair of long blue-jeans with several rips in them, and a white wifebeater on her torso over a black sports bra that could be seen through the thin fabric. There was a scarf wrapped around her hair, covering it except for the back, which was joined by the tail of the scarf dangling against her back. "I think we both know who wears the pants in this relationship." She quipped with a wry smirk.

"Geeze, Paige, you look so…" Abby looked her up and down in disbelief.

Paige snickered. "Keep your eyes to yourself, Archer, unless you're fruitier than I thought." She moved past Abby, watching her out of the corner of her eye until she passed and made her way towards the exit. After she disappeared Abby finally blinked and shook her head, realizing that was the first time Paige had spoken to her in these last few weeks. Maybe whatever had been bothering her was starting to let up?

The rest of the audition went as normal, though Abby definitely saw and felt a difference in the way the actors performed. They were more energetic somehow, and some of them took special care not to break character even when they weren't on-stage. Charlie seemed to watch with special care while Abby and Paige were rehearsing some of their key scenes together. They weren't doing any of the kissing scenes today, much to the dismay of those boys present, but they had way more scenes to rehearse than just those ones.

"How can you suggest we lay down and let them win?" Paige growled in the middle of one of their scenes together, clenching her fist in front of her. She really looked like the kind of girl you'd find hanging out on the street in these clothes, which Abby supposed was the point. "How can you suggest that they may be right!?"

"I suggest no such thing!" Abby replied vigorously. "But we cannot stand against the world, Amy. Its strength is too great, its burden too heavy. We would be crushed as nothing…"

"Then let us be crushed, Rose…" Paige gripped her hands firmly, glaring into her eyes with a fiery look. "Let us be crushed, let us burn, let us be torn asunder by the grasping hands of hatred, just let us be together…"

Abby blinked slowly and moved a little close to her. "Forever…"

Charlie clapped lightly from his seat in the front row, followed quickly by the rest of the cast. The two girls separated, since that was the end of this scene, standing together awaiting Charlie's judgment. "You both continue to shine like stars." He told them with a smile. "As do you all. I see I was completely correct in looking for people like you to do this for me instead of looking for professionals. I have never seen a cast so genuine or dedicated, and I thank you all for your efforts."

"Now all of you, take the rest of the week off and come back this Friday so we can make final adjustments to your costumes, and by then we should have another surprise for you as well." Charlie nodded and gestured toward the dressing rooms. The kids were all chattering excitedly among themselves as they headed into the dressing rooms to change back into their usual clothes, some mumbling about how they wanted to keep the special costumes.

Abby changed quickly, placing her dress and shoes on the rack with everyone else's costumes before turning to leave, but Charlie placed a hand on her shoulder before she could reach the exit, holding onto her. "Hang back for a few minutes, will you, Abby?" He asked. Abby blinked, then realized that Paige too was being held off to one side while the rest of the cast left without them.

Once they were all gone Charlie walked back to one of the auditorium seats and plopped himself down, looking up at them with a studying gaze. "So, what's going on with you girls? Are there any troubles in your personal lives? Problems with the play?"

"No, of course not." Abby shook her head.

"Yeah, the more we do this, the more I like it." Paige nodded. "It's like we're sticking it to the man."

Charlie chuckled. "Well, that is a part of what the play is about, but not all of it." He looked at them for a few more moments before taking another deep breath. "I just want you to know that if there's anything wrong, at all, you can come to me with it. My job here is to make sure that you're comfortable enough to give this project everything you have, because I'm relying on you two more than anyone else."

Abby grew worried. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Not really, I've simply noticed a change in the way you two regard each other. It's like you're more… reserved, guarded. But perhaps I'm just imagining things." He flashed them a smile. "An old man becoming a perfectionist in his advanced age, perhaps." He stood up and wrapped his coat tightly around himself. "You girls just try to relax, and remember if there's anything I can do for either of you, just let me know. It's my job to keep your minds at ease, and I feel that you've become my friends. Do you understand?" Abby and Paige nodded silently, and he turned to leave, his long coat swaying behind him.

The two girls turned to regard each other, and Paige put her hands on her hips. "I blame you."

"Yeah, you do that." Abby rolled her eyes. "Paige, we can't keep doing this. We're losing whatever we had when we first started this, at this rate by the time show time comes we're both going to be kicked out of the play."

This made Paige pause. This was her chance for stardom, Abby knew she wouldn't let it slip out of her hands for no reason. "So what are you suggesting, Abby?"

"We need to get to know each other, we need to be able to connect or this play isn't going to work. I mean, before, we fought all the time, but we still understood each other. Now I have no idea what's going on with you. It's like you've become a different person."

"Oh please, I have not." Paige huffed and turned to leave. "And I have nothing to share with you."

"Please, Paige, just come to my house and let's talk for a while, that's all I'm asking for." Abby rushed up behind her, making her way down the sidewalk.

"Why?" Paige threw her hands up and whirled on her. "What do you want from me!?"

"Just to talk. That's all, and it'll be good for your career." Abby told her calmly.

Paige rolled her eyes and huffed, glaring at Abby with an annoyed expression on her face before she finally spoke. "Fine, if it's what it takes to keep this gig, I'll come to your stupid house."

"Okay, that's all I ask." Abby kept her cool, though inside she was mentally cheering for herself. "Come on, my place is this way." Abby turned to lead Paige down the sidewalk towards her house, already mentally planning everything she was going to say. She had to be careful, Paige had been volatile so far, to say the least, if she said the wrong thing Paige could go right back to not talking to her, and that was the very last thing she wanted.

The strangest thing was… she wasn't sure why she cared anymore. Paige was such a pain in the butt, even when Abby wanted to be nice, that she knew she should have given her up and brushed her off long ago, yet she was still determined to get close to her, to help her. There had to be some reason, she was sure…

They reached Abby's house and they went inside the empty living room. Oh yeah, Abby reminded herself. Ty was over at Naomi's studying until nine, and her parents were probably out getting dinner or something. They had the house to themselves… well, things would probably be easier this way anyway.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Abby closed the door behind Paige.

"Milk sounds pretty good." Paige looked around at the house curiously, walking further into the living room to examine the furniture while Abby made her way into the kitchen.

She poured two glasses of milk, then came back out into the living room to find Paige sitting daintily on one end of the family sofa. She looked pretty uncomfortable, with her hands gripping her knees while her eyes darted around the room as if taking in every nook and cranny in search of an escape route. Abby took a deep breath before approaching the sofa and holding one of the glasses out to her with a gentle smile.

"Thanks." Paige grabbed the glass from her and took a sip while Abby slipped onto the couch beside her. "It's a um… a nice place, here." Paige muttered, as if more to say something than because she really thought so.

"Thanks." Abby smirked slightly, and felt the silence close over them both once again. Abby mentally berated herself for letting the silence stand. She'd wanted to get close to Paige for a reason, she couldn't just sit here and not act on it now that she had Paige here. "You really have been acting different lately, Paige." She said in a soft voice. "I've been kind of worried."

Paige didn't roll her eyes this time, though she did let a slight smirk tug at her lip. "You're one to talk. I've never seen to be so annoyingly clingy before, especially since you've always hated me."

Abby blushed slightly. "Well yeah, but I only hated you because you were such a pain in the neck. It's like you were TRYING to make me hate you."

"So why did YOU change, Abby?" Paige took a sip of her drink, looking at Abby out of the corner of her eye. Abby glanced back in surprise, not expecting to have this turned around on her. "If you got me here to pick my brain, I think I deserve to know why you care so much. It makes no sense for you to just suddenly do a complete turnaround."

Abby looked at her for a moment, then pursed her lips and looked down at the carpet. She was right, of course, it didn't make sense. She was also right that, if Abby was so adamant on getting at the truth, Paige too deserved a straight answer. "The truth is, that day I came to your house, I saw a side of you I never thought existed." Abby glanced over at her again. "I wasn't sure if it was real or if you were faking, but that was the first time I've ever seen you as something other than a selfish conniving bitch. You looked like you were suffering, and I thought maybe all the meanness, all the overbearing attempts at being better than me was just a mask for that. I just had to know."

"Hmm." Paige hummed thoughtfully, swirling her milk around in her glass.

"Now it's your turn." Abby turned towards her eagerly. "WAS it all just a mask? What happened to make you need to pretend to be mean all this time?"

Paige shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm not pretending anything, Archer. I can do whatever I want, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to be the best at whatever I want to do. There's no pretending involved there, it's just how I am."

"What about Marco?" Abby demanded boldly. She saw Paige's eye twitch at the name, but before she could get up Abby grabbed one of her hands in both of hers, clinging to it as if to hold her in place. "I'm sorry if I seem out of line, but that has me worried too. I know something happened… something really bad. I just can't piece together what it was. Did he cheat on you? Dump you? Is that why you're so determined to keep control?"

Paige blinked in surprise and looked over at her. "You mean you don't actually know who he was?"

"Just that he was your boyfriend, and… he kissed you." Abby blushed.

"But how would you think that outside of… my… oh my God, you read my diary!" Paige slammed her glass down on the end table beside the sofa and leapt to her feet. "How DARE you!"

Abby leapt to her feet as well. "I was worried about you!"

"I don't care!" Paige was flushed with anger. "You had no right to read my personal diary! How did you even get it!? Did you break into my room and steal it!?"

"I returned it, didn't I!?" Abby futilely defended herself. She wasn't going to lie, she wasn't going to deny what she'd done, since she knew it was wrong.

"UGH!" Paige roared with her fists clenched. "I can't believe I was actually thinking of going through with this stupid 'bonding' thing with you!" She whirled to march towards the front door.

Abby nimbly spun around her to get between her and the door, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Paige, hold on, I'm so sorry, okay? I wanted to find out what was happening with you, but when I saw that you'd actually ripped out pages from it, I knew I'd done something wrong."

"Gee, you think!?" Paige roared.

"It was the wrong thing to do, but I wouldn't have done it if you'd just been honest with me. That first day in your room it was like you were opening up for just a few minutes and I… liked it. I liked the idea of being your friend, but then you just totally shut down again, and it doesn't make sense for someone to do that. That's why I was so worried, Paige… I wanted to make sure there wasn't something keeping you from being my friend… or anyone else's friend." Paige growled and looked away from her. "Even those people you do hang out with aren't really friends, are they? Why not? Does it have to do with Marco?"

Paige looked up at her eyes, glaring daggers into Abby's eyes, but she took them without flinching, letting her anger flow how it may. "What on Earth did he do to you, Paige?"

"He kissed me." Paige replied stiffly. "Lots of times."

"What's so bad about that? Lots of kids kiss, it's actually kind of cute." Abby told her.

"He was twenty-seven." Paige added in a low growl. Abby stared at her blankly for a moment, then her eyes widened when she started to get the idea of what she was saying.

"Wow… Paige…" Abby stuttered.

"Don't, don't you dare do that! Don't you dare tell me you're sorry, or how terrible it was, or how evil he was!" Paige exclaimed. "I saw that look on your face for years after people found out about what happened, on everybody I knew! My parents, my friends, even the freaking cops who were investigating gave me that same sad, PITYING look!" She put on a squeaky, mocking voice. "Awwww look at the poor, poor little victim girl who's going to be scarred and pathetic for the rest of her life!" She growled. "Well I am not pathetic, I don't need anyone's help and I don't need their sympathy!"

Abby just stared blankly at the blonde in front of her. She looked like she was on the verge of exploding at a moment's notice, her eyes shining with a kind of venom even Abby had never been exposed to before. This was it, Abby thought to herself. This was why she didn't want any real friends, why she entered every single contest the school held, why she was always so over competitive… she was trying to prove herself. Prove that she was above being a weak victim.

Abby nodded slowly, looking into her eyes. "Trust me Paige… if there's one thing I know about you after knowing you for this long, it's that the last thing you are, is weak and helpless." She flashed her a gentle smile. "You're so strong you're a pain in the butt."

Paige stared at her for a moment, then chuckled with a half-smile of her own. "Only because you're not strong enough to handle me, Archer."

"Yeah, you may be right." Abby chuckled back, looking at her eyes. She had never thought of Paige before as anything besides a royal pain in the butt… but now that she was looking again, she realized that Paige had always had something in spades that even Abby could learn a thing or two from. Boundless confidence and self-assurance. Just like her character in the play, Abby realized. Could Charlie have seen this in her from the very beginning?

After another few moments she realized she was staring openly, and Paige was staring right back with a curious look in her eyes. At last Abby broke the stare and looked down at her shoes, more just for something else to focus on than because she was interested in them. "Um… thanks for telling me, Paige… I know that must have been pretty hard."

She looked up when she felt Paige's finger touch her chin, pushing it upward to look into her eyes again. "Yeah, well… you were just so freaking insistent, not much else I could do. You're as much a pain in the butt as anyone."

Abby smirked slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment." She felt Paige's finger stay on her chin for a few more moments, her baby blue eyes staring into Abby's. Abby was surprised to find that her face seemed to be moving closer when suddenly, she felt Paige's lips press gently to hers.

Abby didn't pull away, instead pressing her lips firmly up against Paige's in a return that proved she was more than ready for it. They held the kiss, neither speaking or even thinking as it continued. Abby felt Paige's hands slide up to her elbows, holding her arms in place as softly as the touch of her lips. Abby pressed her lips slightly harder against Paige's, her heart beating in her chest as her own somewhat shivering hands rose to rest against Paige's hips.

As suddenly as it began, the kiss ended, and Paige pulled back to look into her eyes. Abby was panting by the time it did end, her mind and heart racing as she stammered through her shock, and several other powerful feelings she could barely name.

She tried to ask what that was, but before she could they were kissing again, and this time Abby felt herself fall back onto the sofa, landing on the thick cushion and leaning against the back with Paige right on top of her, leaning against her torso. Abby was shivering as her arms wrapped around Paige's neck, wrapping tightly around her and holding her as close as possible.

They had no idea how long passed, wrapped in one-another's embrace, the kiss only growing in passion with every passing minute. Soft coos and moans echoed out of the living room as they stroked and petted one another, rolling on the couch until Abby found herself on top of Paige lying lengthwise across the sofa, with the blonde girl completely at her mercy.

The soft click of a lock opening went completely unnoticed. It wasn't until she heard a pair of footsteps stop just inside the front door that she realized someone else was in the room, and by then it was too late. She opened one of her eyes and let the kiss break, glancing down to see her mother staring at them with wide, stunned eyes. Abby stared back at her for several moments, still feeling Paige's chest rising and falling against her own as the girl shifted uncomfortably beneath her.

Paige gently pushed Abby off of herself and slid out from under her, reaching up to brush her somewhat messy hair into place with one hand. "Hey, Mrs. Archer." She flashed a slight smile. Her mom didn't respond, just staring at them like they just turned into vampires. "I'm gonna…" Paige gestured toward the door, flashing a glance at Abby before leaping from the couch and quickly making her way out of the house, brushing past Abby's mom, who still stood frozen in the doorway.

Abby cleared her throat and reached down to pluck Paige's pink beret off of the coffee table, where it had fallen in the heat of the moment. "Mom?" She finally spoke. "Are you okay?"

At last her mother blinked for the first time since Abby had spotted her. "We need to talk."

So Abby found herself sitting awkwardly on the living room sofa, clutching Paige's beret like a life-preserver while her mother sat in front of her, opening and closing her mouth like a drowning fish. "Abby… you see… when a man and a woman love each other very much…"

Abby groaned and rolled her eyes. "Mom, it's the 21st century, I know what sex is."

Her mother huffed, looking a bit red in the face. "You kids today…" She grumbled under her breath. "I'd just like to know what you were thinking just now."

Abby raised her eyebrow. "What I was thinking? That it was kinda nice."

Her mother shivered. "Abby, you know what you were doing is wrong, how did you even get that idea in your head?"

"What idea? Kissing?" Abby scratched her head. "I've had that idea for a while, now."

"No, sweetie." Her mother shook her head a bit too forcefully. "Kissing… her."

Abby stared at her for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. "You mean… a girl?" Her mother nodded. "Mom, does it really matter if it was a boy or a girl I was with? It was just a kiss anyway, it's not like we would've had sex even if she was a boy. I'm not that dumb."

"I know that, sweetie, I trust you. I just… worry about you." Her mother told her. "I've never seen you lean, you know, that way. I just want to make sure everything's all right, that you're okay. Did someone say something to you at school about this? It was some boy who put you up to this, wasn't it?"

"No, mom, nobody put me up to it." Abby replied sharply. Right after she said it though, she realized it wasn't really true. This play had had the topic on her mind for the last few weeks… what if it had done the same to Paige? What if they only did this because of the play? "Well… I don't think so, anyway."

"You don't think so?" Her mother pressed softly.

"Well… in the play, Paige and I sort of have to kiss for our roles." Abby told her softly.

Her mother's eyes widened. "What? Your play? I thought it was a play for children!"

"Well, not really." Abby shook her head. "The stars are all kids, but the play itself is for everyone."

"I see." Her mother narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then reached out to touch her daughter's knee. "Get some sleep, Abby. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Oh… okay…" Abby was a bit wary, but she didn't want to argue anymore, especially since her heart was still racing after what happened with Paige. So she leapt to her feet and raced into the back to her bedroom, away from her mother's staring, prying eyes.

She had a lot to think about, she realized as she plopped down on her bed. She hadn't really thought about the way the play was written before, honestly it hadn't even occurred to her that there was anything strange about the fact that it was such a huge romance starring two girls. Was that what made her think about Paige that way? Was it what had brought them as close as they were? More importantly though, was Charlie just using them for their sex appeal…? Boys obviously liked seeing girls kiss, as the boys in the play proved. The thought made her shiver. She had to find out as soon as she could, right after school tomorrow…

To Be Continued


	5. Realizations and Sensations

Chapter 05: Realizations and Sensations

The next day was remarkably gray, with dull storm clouds hanging over the small city, blocking out most of the sunlight and making the air itself look bored. Abby made her way through the school hallways like she always did, looking back and forth at the other students as she passed. Now that she was paying attention, she did see several of the boys giving her strange looks, and some even clicked their tongue and gave her a creepy wink as she passed. It made her uncomfortable, but she did her best to ignore them.

Her heart jumped when she spotted Paige standing in front of her locker, digging through it in search of her books for the first class of the day. Abby wondered for a moment how she would act. Was she going to go back to giving Abby the cold shoulder, or had they really made progress this time? How could she go back after something like THAT? Oh well, there was only one way to find out… so Abby took a breath and approached.

"Hey Paige." Abby said with a smile.

Paige looked up from her locker with a math book in hand, flashing her a quarter of a smile. "Abby." She closed the locker and turned towards her, clutching her book to her chest. "Your mom give you the lash?"

Abby chuckled lightly. "Not really, she just sort of stammered at me for a while then sent me to bed. Oh!" She reached behind her back and pulled out a fluffy pink beret, holding it out to her with a smile. "You left this at my house last night."

"Ah, I thought so. Thanks." Paige snapped it out of her hands, brushing it off with one hand before whipping it back into place on her curly blonde head.

"So… do you wanna walk to class together?" Abby tested with a friendly smile.

For a moment Paige just looked at her, then with a shrug she turned to walk down the hall, waving for Abby to follow. Her smile spreading wider, Abby moved to walk beside her. Her smile faded a bit, however, when she noticed some of the boys in the hallway watching them with strange looks on their faces. Even some of the girls began to snicker into their hands as the two girls passed. Abby wasn't one to dwell on what others thought… but she was already so nervous about the play now that even these looks brought a blush to her cheeks.

"Hey, Paige… have you noticed any of the other kids acting different than usual?" Abby asked.

"Not really, I don't pay attention to most people." Paige shrugged.

"Me neither, but…" Abby blushed and glanced around. "Do you ever think it's weird that a guy like Charlie would make a play starring kids, and make the lead romance between two girls?" Paige stopped suddenly and turned to look at her with a curious expression. "It's just something my mom brought to my attention… but… this isn't exactly normal, is it? Why would he make it between two girls? The original Romeo and Juliet is about forbidden love in the first place, the change seems a little redundant."

Paige put a hand to her chin, narrowing her eyes at Abby. "What exactly are you getting at? Do you think he's a pervert?"

Abby hesitated for a moment before responding. "I don't think he is… I HOPE he isn't, but… it is pretty weird, you have to admit that. I mean, you may not care what others think, but you have to have noticed the um… strange looks the boys have been giving us."

"Boys do that to all cute girls, you get used to it." Paige shrugged off that concern. "Though now that you mention it, it does seem pretty weird that Charlie wrote the play this way. Not only wrote it this way, but asked us all not to tell anyone about it. It's like he's hiding it, ashamed of it." She narrowed her eyes, then looked up at Abby. "What if he IS some pervert who's getting his willies watching us, and marketing us to other perverts?" She clenched her fists. "I couldn't STAND letting him get away with that!"

"Relax, we won't." Abby put a hand on her shoulder. "But we can't start getting angry until we know the truth. We should at least ask him, and if we don't like the answer, we can leave the play together."

Paige gasped. "But my career…"

"Do you want a pervert to take advantage of you?" Abby asked.

"Hell no!" Paige answered immediately.

"Then let's find out the truth, and know what we're getting into here. I looked him up last night, I know where he's staying in town, we can pay him a visit right after school." Abby suggested.

"Right." Paige nodded with a solemn look on her face. "We'll get to the bottom of this." With that, she turned to continue down the hallway toward her class, with Abby walking right behind her. Abby couldn't help a small smile as she watched the girl walk. And to think, she'd always been so worried about appearing weak when she was so strong…

***

The school bell rang, sending its usual flood of kids spilling out onto the streets, eager to take up lives outside of the academic arena. Abby waited outside underneath one of the big trees planted to make the place seem more natural, waiting until Paige emerged from the school and moved to join her. With a friendly smile and a wave, they both turned to make their way down the sidewalk away from the school and the prying eyes of the other kids.

"Hey, Paige…" Abby spoke as they walked side-by-side.

"Hm?" Paige glanced in her direction.

"About last night… about what happened… y'know, between us." Abby blushed slightly.

"What about it?" Paige raised her eyebrow.

"You're very nonchalant about it." Abby's blush only deepened.

"Why should I be nervous?" Paige shrugged. "We obviously both felt like doing it. I never regret things I decide to do. If I do something, it's because I want to, end of story."

"Was it really that easy? You seemed so upset about kissing a few weeks ago." Abby reminded her.

"We've done plenty of kissing in the play… I guess I'm used to it by now." Paige shrugged, then glanced over at her out of the corner of her eye. "It was quite an… experience."

"Haha, yeah, I can't argue with that." Abby blushed and cleared her throat, exchanging the glance with a soft smile. "What… does it mean, exactly? Is this… y'know, is this something that's going to continue or… was it just that one night or… what?"

Paige shrugged. "Right now, I don't really care. I'm just trying to think of how to remove Charlie's penis from his sack if he HAS been planning to use our sex appeal to draw in crowds."

Abby blinked. "That was pretty graphic."

"The actual removal will be MORE graphic." Paige looked up as they approached a modestly sized apartment building in the middle of the town. It was one of the taller buildings in town, though by no means the tallest around. "Which apartment did you say he was in again?"

Abby glanced down at the small sheet in her hand. "Apartment 21C on the third floor." Abby looked up again. "Come on, he's probably still here, since there's no rehearsal today." Abby approached the intercom beside the locked glass door, looking for the appropriate apartment number and pressing the button.

"Can I help you?" Charlie's voice came back through the intercom.

"Charlie, it's Abby and Paige. We'd like to speak to you about the play." Abby replied.

"Come on up, I'll buzz you in." Charlie replied. A moment later they heard a loud click from the door, and they pushed it open to head inside before it could lock on them again.

They made their way up the elevator to the seventh floor, soon finding his door and knocking lightly. The door opened a moment later to reveal Charlie smiling out at them, though his hair was ragged and there were tiny hairs dotting his usually clean-shaven face. "Good afternoon ladies. What can I do for you today?" He pulled the door open to let them in, then closed the door behind them once they were inside.

"We'd like to ask you some questions." Paige told him with suspiciously narrowed eyes.

"So I gathered." Charlie smiled back nonchalantly. "What questions would you like to ask me?"

"Did you write the play?" Abby asked.

"Yes, I did." Charlie nodded.

"Why did you write it?" Abby asked with a serious look on her face.

Charlie shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Why do you ask? It's a bit personal."

"Because the play stars two lesbian girls, we're afraid you're using that to attract perverts to the audience, or to buy the DVD, or however you're going to market this thing." Paige said bluntly. "If that's the case, we want no part of it! Unless you have a good reason for writing this play, you can find yourself a new Mary and Rose right now." Abby stared at her in shock. She was so blunt and to-the-point. Normally that bluntness was what made Abby hate her, but now it seemed helpful. She'd just blurted out what Abby had been struggling to say.

Charlie nodded slowly, giving them an almost appreciative gaze. "You're very intelligent girls… yes, you're absolutely right." He sat down on the edge of the bed set against the wall. "I find myself at the mercy of your justified suspicion. Ask anything you want to know."

"Just tell us why you wrote the play this way. Why not just do a production of Romeo and Juliet? The message would be the same anyway." Abby pointed out.

Charlie nodded. "I suppose it would… but the truth is, ladies, I did not write this play as a variant of Romeo and Juliet, though clearly I used some influence from it." He took a deep breath and sat up straight, resting his hands in his knees. "The truth is, this play is not just Romeo and Juliet… it is my autobiography."

The girls' eyes widened in surprised silence for a few moments. Paige was the first to speak. "Including the ending…?" Charlie nodded.

"Wait… if it's an autobiography, why use two girls? Shouldn't it be two boys?" Abby pointed out.

Charlie nodded. "It should, but as I'm sure you girls know, this sort of thing isn't very well accepted at the best of times. However, homosexuality among girls is accepted much more readily than homosexuality among boys. If I had cast boys, people in general would have shunned the play even more than they're likely to now… and I feel the message is too important to sabotage in that manner."

"That's true…" Abby bit her lip guiltily. Charlie had been nothing but open with them through the entire process, she felt bad that she'd doubted his sincerity now. "Listen I'm sorry, we didn't mean to…"

"Don't apologize, given what you told me, you had every right to suspect something was amiss." Charlie smiled. "Though I would appreciate it if you girls would keep this to yourselves. Like the topic itself, those who are Gay tend to be swept under the carpet whenever possible, and I very much would like to see this play succeed."

"So would I." Abby and Paige spoke in unison, then exchanged a curious glance.

Charlie smiled. "Thank you." He stood up from the bed, reaching up to grab his thin brown trench coat from the rack beside the door. "So, I guess I owe you girls an apology for making you worry about this. Have you two eaten yet?" The two girls shook their heads. "Then why don't we find something nice to eat? My treat."

"Sure! That sounds great." Abby smiled.

"I have nothing better to do." Paige replied with a similar smile.

"Come then, to the streets where life begins." Charlie snatched his keys off of the nightstand by the bed, opened the apartment door and gestured grandly for them to go first. With twin giggles, the girls left first, and the man closed the door behind them.

They left the apartment building in good spirits. Despite their accusations, Charlie was as full of life and enthusiasm as he usually was. His good mood was almost infectious, Abby thought to herself as they made their way down the street in search of something to eat. After a short time, Charlie and Paige outvoted Abby and they made their way into a Chinese restaurant, where they were promptly seated with menus in their laps. Charlie was seated on one side, while the girls shared the other side.

"Hmm… I think I'll go with the Sweet & Sour and some Fried Rice." Paige closed her menu with a smile. "That's my usual."

"I didn't know you were a fan of Chinese food." Abby raised her eyebrow.

"You barely know anything about me, Archer." Paige retorted with a teasing smirk. Abby wanted to argue… but she actually was right, she realized. "How about you? Not such a big fan of Chinese food?"

"I like it alright, but there are plenty of foods I like better."

"Well, there's no accounting for taste. Just look at that sweater." Paige grinned.

"Hey!" Abby frowned.

Paige laughed and hit her shoulder lightly. "You need to lighten up, Archer."

"Abby!" Abby grumbled sharply.

"Charlie, don't you think she needs to lighten up?" Paige demanded.

As the girls whirled on him he held up his hands and leaned back in his seat. "Um, that's something I really can't help you girls with." He coughed and quickly buried his nose in his menu. Paige and Abby exchanged a glance and an amused giggle.

"I think we're making our host nervous." Paige rested her chin in her palm, looking at Abby with an idle smile.

"Well, we really shouldn't do that." Abby smirked back. "He's being so generous after all."

"Mmm." Paige flashed her a strange smirk, but the waiter arrived a moment later to interrupt whatever she was going to say.

Their food arrived promptly after ordering, and they settled in to eat their selections. Abby didn't eat very fast, but instead carried on a conversation with Paige, who ate with more vigor, but still with a proper, ladylike air about her actions. There was a lot about Paige she'd never known, beside the thing with Marco. She never knew Paige had taken ballet when she was a young girl. She never knew she was able to play the trumpet, or that she was aspiring to be a fashion-designer, and could draw a great picture when she had the inspiration. She even showed Abby some of her pencil sketches out of her purse.

"Wow, Paige." Abby gaped at the pictures, which were a bit rough around the edges, but definitely had a simple beauty to them. One of them even looked familiar. "Is this your mom?"

"Yep." Paige beamed with pride. "She even posed for me to draw that. I thought that was one of my better designs, too."

"So, wait, you actually made the clothes and sketched them?" Abby asked.

"Of course not, silly. That's just backwards. I draw the model, and then I draw the clothes on top of the sketch. These are just the ones that have designs on them, the bases are kept back in my room." Paige told her. "Of course I only do one design per sketch, so I'm always on the lookout for different models." She looked over Abby's both with a thoughtful expression on her face. "In fact, you wouldn't mind modeling for me, would you? I've been meaning to do some teen designs, but my mom is the only regular model I have."

"You want ME to model?" Abby's eyes widened. "What about your friends?"

"They used to, but their parents found out and put a stop to that." Paige rolled her eyes.

Abby blinked. "And what about this modeling would they be objecting to…?"

"Well, nothing important, their moms just didn't like them being drawn is all." Paige told her.

"Oh… I guess I could do that." Abby smiled. "Is it really true that artists have to draw naked people, though?"

Paige nodded. "In one of the artist books I have, they said it's important to have a strong grasp of anatomy, so that you know how the clothes would hang off of a human body. It's hard to draw a real person when you don't know what a person really looks like."

"That actually makes sense." Abby smiled. "That's pretty cool. Learn something new all the time. Sure, I'd love to model for you."

"Great, maybe we can do it tonight… at my place, since I think your mom would kill me on sight." She smirked.

Abby giggled back and smiled broadly, then suddenly realized that Charlie hadn't spoken a word since before the food arrived. She glanced up at him to find him eating politely, watching them with a strangely gentle smile on his face. "Sorry, Charlie, I didn't mean to keep you out of the conversation or anything…"

"Stop apologizing, Abby, I'm glad you two are getting along so well." He told her. "This is the kind of chemistry that really shows through on-stage."

Abby and Paige exchanged a broad smile. "We'll keep working on it." Paige told him.

"Now, I think we've spent enough time watching our food cool. If you're both done." Charlie stood and reached into his pocket for his wallet. The girls agreed, and soon they were back outside on the sidewalk, where the sun had moved towards the Western horizon, but still showed they had several hours before curfew.

"Would you girls like an escort home?" Charlie asked.

"No thanks, I think we can handle ourselves from here." Paige replied.

"I bid you goodnight, then. I'll see you at rehearsals this Friday, and if you feel like asking me any other questions, feel free to come see me again any time." He gave them a smile and a wave, then turned to head down the sidewalk toward his apartment building.

Paige turned toward Abby, then jerked her head down the opposite direction. "Come on, let's get back to my place. I'll let you stay for dinner if you want… and if your mom won't kill you for it." She turned to head towards her house.

"It'll be tough, but I think I can convince her to let me stay for a while." Abby smiled and turned to follow her towards the mansion she had first visited several weeks ago. Paige opened the large front door and stepped inside, inviting her in with a wave of her arm before closing it behind her. This time Abby found herself face-to-face with a woman sitting on the living room sofa, whose hair was the same shade as Paige's, but was dangling down to her shoulder blades rather than cut short around her neck.

"Good afternoon, Paige." Paige's mother looked up from her magazine with a smile on her lips. "How has your day been so far?"

"It's been fine, mom." Paige smiled. "I brought Abby back with me, was hoping she could stick around a while and join us for dinner."

"Really?" Her mother seemed surprised, but her face lit up with a bright smile. "I certainly have no problem with that. Dinner will be in a few hours, feel free to make yourself at home, Abby."

"Thank you very much." Abby smiled back. Paige turned to move past her, gesturing for her to follow back up the thickly carpeted stairs to the second story and inside of her bedroom.

The lock of Paige's door clicked shut behind them, and Paige looked at her with an almost mischievous smile. "No escaping now, Archer."

"You really think you could stop me from leaving if I wanted to?" Abby smirked.

"Kicked your butt once before." Paige winked. Abby grumbled under her breath, but Paige just chuckled and moved toward the nightstand beside her bed, pulling out a thick notepad full of blank, extra large sheets of paper. When she had her pad in hand, she turned on Abby again, holding the pad in front of her. "You can get ready any time. You ARE going to be a base. Don't worry, I won't say anything snide about your underwear, whether you deserve it or not."

"Er, right." Abby coughed, taking a moment to decide whether she wanted to do this or not. In a moment, however, she reached up to grab her sweater and white t-shirt underneath at the same time, pulling them both off with all of the casualness she could muster. Paige did seem completely unphased, so she reached down to undo her slacks as well.

"Well, that was fast." Paige said admirably. "My other friends argued for hours before doing that."

"I'm not ASHAMED of my body, I'm just not used to anyone seeing it outside of school showers." Abby told her with a slight blush. "So where do you want me? Do you want me to pose, or…?"

"Do whatever you want, have fun with it." Paige told her. After thinking about it for a moment, Abby turned slightly to the side and crossed her arms over her chest with her lower lip puffing out into a dramatic pout. When she saw it Paige burst into giggles, putting one hand over her lips. "Is that really the first thing that comes to mind?"

"You said anything." Abby chuckled.

"You might want to pick something easier to stay in until I finish." Paige warned her with a humorous smile.

"The girl makes a fair point." Abby adjusted herself again, this time facing Paige, standing normally with one hand resting on her hip while the other dangled from her side.

"Not bad." Paige told her appreciatively. "Now just hold it for a while." She turned on her sketchpad and started running her pencil over the paper with fast, short strokes. Abby watched her work with a curious gaze, watching the pencil slide over the paper. Occasionally her eyes flitted up from her work to look over Abby's body, examining it for a few seconds before turning back to her mission. It made Abby blush a little to have someone examine her like that, but she didn't say anything, instead staying focused on not moving.

Almost an hour had passed before Paige sighed and held back her notepad. "There, I'm done."

"Let me see!" Excitedly, Abby rushed across the floor to look over her shoulder at the sketch. She grinned when she saw herself standing there, as naked as a bluebird with a well-detailed body, but with an almost regal look about her as well. "Wow, that's so awesome."

"I always do my best at everything I do." Paige beamed with pride. "I just happen to be good at a lot of things."

"Right." Abby snickered slightly and turned to look at Paige's face, which was only inches away from her own as they looked over the pad of paper clutched in her hands. Paige looked back, a mischievously confident look shining from her bright blue eyes. Suddenly Abby was extremely aware of how naked she was. She cleared her throat and looked for something to say, but she couldn't think of anything except how different Paige seemed now. Paige almost seemed to be admiring her.

"Y'know, Paige… this hardly seems fair." Abby told her with a wry smirk. "I'm standing here in my underwear and you're sitting there staring at me. It's one-sided."

"Too bad, Archer." Paige smirked back. "Life isn't fair, deal with it."

"Oh, ouch." Abby grinned. "Well that doesn't mean we can't try to even things out. Commere!" Abby suddenly grabbed her from behind and shoved her to her back on the bed, her hands gripping at her clothing.

"Aiieee! Noooo!" Paige yelped and flailed her limbs, managing to force Abby back enough for her to spin around on the bed and crawl toward the other side. She leapt off the mattress to the floor, panting and backing away from the bed, though her face was flushed with excitement and humor rather than actual terror. "You stay away from me!"

"Make me!" Abby leapt for that side of the bed, but Paige whirled to run towards the feet of the bed, barely avoiding her grasping hands. Abby whirled to cut her off, leaping to the floor in front of her and wrapping both arms around her torso before she could come to a complete stop.

"Geeze you're fast!" Paige exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Got that right!" Abby yanked her to the side and shoved her down on the bed, where she fell with an 'oof' and a 'plop'. Her hands darted down to the bottom of Paige's sweater, her fingers grasping at the bottom, then pausing, unsure if this little play could really go so far. However, when she looked up at Paige's face, her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes were sparkling with an almost challenging smile on her lips.

Her hands lowered down on top of Abby's, gripping them along with her shirt and pulling them up her body. "This was what you were going for, wasn't it?"

"Y-yeah…" Abby replied breathily. "Something like that." She gulped. "So I guess… it wasn't a um… one time… thing?" She gasped when she felt Paige's arms circle her bare waist, pulling her down on top of her on the bed. Abby leaned against her, but she jolted in surprise when a voice shouted from downstairs.

"Paige! Abby! Dinner's ready!" Paige's mother shouted up to them.

"Ggrgh." Paige growled and bit her lip. "Darnit, mother…"

Abby had to laugh softly at that. "Guess we should get downstairs before she comes looking for us."

"Hmm… maybe you could stay the night here." Paige suggested with a slight smile.

"Ahaha, after last night I think my mom would kill me for suggesting that." Abby chuckled.

"Oh, well." Paige sat up, pushing Abby beside her so they could sit side-by-side. "Maybe it's for the best, anyway. No reason to rush into anything too heavy, right? So young, so soon…"

"Yeah, I can agree with that." Abby nodded. "Though there's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, either."

"Is that right?" Paige raises her eyebrow.

"I'm not actually very hungry tonight, are you?" Abby asked

Paige shrugged. "Not really. Why? What do you wanna do?" She raised her eyebrow teasingly.

"Well, this room is huge… I bet it has all kinds of awesome stuff hidden in it." Abby grinned. "Like say… a massive TV?"

Paige grinned back. "You know me too well." She crawled up to the head of her bed and snatched a black remote off of her nightstand, pushing a button. Abby blinked in surprise as a hole in the floor near the wall began to open with a mechanical whirring noise, and soon a widescreen TV easily as wide as Abby was tall lifted out of the hole, sitting against the wall like a black monolith.

"Whoa… and I was just kidding…" Abby's jaw dropped.

"Or so you thought." Paige moved up beside her with a grin, hitting the power button on the remote. "Your curfew isn't for a little while yet… wanna watch some TV?"

"Yes please." Abby smiled.

So the two girls settled down on the bed together, still sitting in their underwear while they flipped from channel to channel giving dry commentary on the shows they found playing. More than a few giggles escaped their lips as they told jokes at the expense of the poor writers and actors they found on the massive television, but also from the sheer naughtiness of what they knew they were doing. It was exciting, and honestly really fun, Abby thought to herself. It was definitely the most fun she'd ever had with Paige, at least.

Still, she knew it had to end, and soon she was standing in Paige's room fully dressed and standing in front of the open window. She smiled and looked down at her new blonde friend, who was still lying on her bed. "Thanks, Paige… I had a really good time tonight. And if you ever need another base for your designs…"

"I'll keep you in mind." Paige smiled. "See you tomorrow, Archer."

Abby nodded and opened the window, since it was actually a bit past her curfew by now, and she didn't want any questions from Paige's parents. She leapt outside, landing easily in a crouch on the small grass and turning to race through the growing night towards home. Her heart was racing and she just couldn't stop herself from smiling broadly on her way home. She felt so… excited, though she wasn't even sure what she was excited about. Paige, the future in general, life as a whole. She just felt like she was walking on clouds… and she didn't want the feeling to end.

To Be Continued


	6. A Dream Not to Be

Chapter 06: A Dream Not To Be

He leaned back on the bed in his small, but well-furnished apartment with a slight smile on his lips. After weeks of nonstop work trying to get the play in order, molding actors on some days and assisting the construction crew with the sets on off-days, he'd been working every day for the last three months. It felt good to have a week off from the acting side of things to put the finishing touches on the sets and props. Perhaps it wasn't entirely honest, but he needed a vacation and he was sure the actors didn't mind a few days off. Especially Abby and Paige… they always worked so hard.

His head jerked to the side in surprise when he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"I need to speak with you, Mr. Andrews." A woman's voice came from the other side of the door.

Curiously, Charlie rose from the bed to approach the door and pull it open. A woman with fiery red hair was standing on the other side with a concerned look on her face. Her eyes flitted up to his almost instantly. "How… did you get in here? It's a closed building." Charlie asked.

"That's not what's important. What's important is my daughter." The woman demanded.

"Ah, I see." Charlie pursed his lips. "Mrs. Archer, I presume." The woman nodded curtly. "Please, come in." He swept to one side gracefully to let the irate woman into his room, then closed the door behind her. When he turned around she was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at him like he'd been trying to run up and attack her. "Can I get you a drink?"

"I'm not comfortable with my Abigail taking part in such a… distasteful play." Mrs. Archer said bluntly.

"Distasteful, well, that's a matter of opinion." Charlie replied smoothly. "What about it do you consider distasteful? Perhaps we can come to an agreement to change it."

"You have my daughter making out with another girl onstage." Mrs. Archer's eyes flared. "If that's not distasteful, I don't know what is."

"Now, you're blowing that out of proportion." Charlie replied coolly. "They kiss, that's all. At no point in the play do they ever touch one-another. I wouldn't do that to them."

"Don't play coy with me, I caught my daughter with a girl the other night doing things I didn't think she knew how to do." Mrs. Archer approached him, still fuming. "All because of your play. Do the other parents know what kind of play you have their children involved in?"

"Everyone signed statements allowing their children to be involved in-" Charlie began.

"Well I'm cancelling mine, right now. Find yourself another little girl to exploit, and we'll see how many more little porn stars you have left when I tell everyone else what you've been making them do." Mrs. Archer narrowed her eyes. "Stay away from my daughter. I'm a peaceful woman by nature, but no one is going to use my daughter for their own sick desires, or to make money off of them. No one." She whirled and yanked the door open, marching out into the hallway again with her back straight.

Charlie slinked up to the door to close it behind her, leaning against it and shaking his head. This was the very last thing he needed…

***

Abby felt giddy. She couldn't stop giggling to herself as she sank into the thick cushions of the living room sofa. She didn't consider herself a tomboy, really, but she also didn't consider herself much of a girly-girl either. It wasn't like her to giggle so much, but she couldn't help it. It was like there was a tingly sensation in her chest and she just had to let it out or she would explode. Just thinking about the night before brought the tingles back. In fact thinking of Paige's face at all made her smile. What was going on with her? Was this feeling…?

The sound of feet padding up behind her brought her attention behind the couch, where she saw Ty looking at her with an expression somewhere between curiosity and pure, unbridled terror.

"Well, you… er… look different, Abby." Ty coughed into one hand. "I don't think I've ever seen a smile like that on your face."

"Really? Because I feel great, right now." Abby only smiled wider. "Funny thing is, I'm not entirely sure why. Isn't that hilarious?"

"S-sure, hysterical…" Ty coughed again, then gave her a soft smile. "But hey, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy, so whatever it is, it has my blessing…"

Abby raised her eyebrow curiously. "Your blessing? What an odd thing to say."

"Yeah, well… people talk." Ty rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"What do they talk about?" Abby's smile faded and she fixed her brother with a suspicious, forceful glare.

"Well… I heard mom talking to dad, actually… about you and… and Paige." Ty told her. "And there have been rumors at school but… I didn't believe those for a second."

"Oh." Abby blinked and narrowed her eyes.

"Like I said, I'm cool with it." Ty raised his hands defensively. "I don't care if you like girls or anything, that's all I wanted you to know."

"Thanks…" Abby shook her head. "I get the feeling mom doesn't agree, though."

"Not from what I heard." Ty coughed again. Before he could say anything else, however, they both heard the front door open and turned to see their mother entering the house. The two kids watched from the sofa as the woman walked into the living room, giving them both a soft smile before her eyes settled on Abby.

"I had a talk with your 'Director' today, Abby." She told them.

"Really…?" Abby asked worriedly.

"You're not going back to that place. I don't trust him, or the people he works for." Her mother spoke with the same undeniable authority she used to declare what they were having for dinner.

"Wh… what?" Abby stood up. "Mom, you pulled me out of the play!? But I want to do it!"

"It's not worth it sweetie. Continuing something like THAT will only hurt your future. People will start to wonder if you really are that way, and people will remember this when you try to get a good job someday. This is for the best, trust me."

"It's just a play! It's not TURNING me Gay, mother, and even if it was, why is that a bad thing!? I don't care what others think of me." Abby insisted.

Her mother seemed to visibly wince when she said the word 'Gay'. "I've taken back my permission for you to be in the play, Abigail Archer. That is final, and my final word on the subject. I don't want to hear any more about it, do you understand me?" She demanded.

Abby was practically shaking with rage, her fists clenching at her sides. She could see her brother beside her watching with wide eyes, while her mother just stared her down with firm hands resting on her hips. Abby opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped herself. She knew she'd just start screaming if she tried, getting herself in way deeper trouble than she was comfortable with. So instead she whirled to make her way into the back of the house, jumping over the back of the couch and brushing Ty aside on her way.

She slammed the bedroom door behind her and took a deep calming breath… that suddenly erupted into a shrill scream. She screamed at her empty bedroom for almost a minute before it faded into a shrill squeak, then finally she ran out of breath and fell to her knees, gulping in precious life-giving oxygen. She was sure her mother heard, but the expected sound of her padding down the hallway towards her room never came. Oh whatever, Abby thought to herself. She didn't really want to see her mother right now anyway…

She pulled herself off of the floor and approached the bed, letting herself sprawl down on it with a thud on her back, lying limp against the sheets and staring at the ceiling. She couldn't argue with her mom on this one… without her permission, she couldn't be in the play. It would be illegal, and that really was final. There was nothing she could do…

Abby felt numb, and her stomach was growling furiously the next day since she didn't come out of her room to eat. The rest of the week slipped by without so much as a whimper, and this time, it was she who decided to avoid Paige in the hallways of Ringworm Jr. High. Her mother hadn't said anything about being Paige's friend, but her anger over the play told Abby enough, and besides, she didn't know how to tell Paige that she was out of the play. Sure, it didn't hurt Paige, but she'd started to feel like they could really rely on one-another to make this work. She felt like she would be letting Paige down. Paige would get the hint when Abby didn't show up Friday.

***

The days came and went, and Abby was careful to avoid Paige until the end of the week was upon them. She knew that once the school bell rang the rest of the cast would be on their way to the theater, eager to see what surprise Charlie had in store for them. She wanted to go, just to see what it was, but she decided against it. She was trying to get over the disappointment of being ripped out of her play, her dream. So instead as the school bell rang over the Ringworm Jr. High courtyard, she made her way down the sidewalk away from the theater and found an ice-cream parlor she often frequented when she was feeling down.

She sat at one of the booths with a cup of chocolate sitting on the table in front of her, slowly spooning it into her mouth and watching the cars pass on the road outside the window. What would Charlie's surprise be, she wondered idly. Maybe they were having a party to celebrate the show, or perhaps they were going somewhere nice over the weekend. Whatever it was, Abby wished she could see it, and be in the play. Man, why did her mom have to freak out…

"Y'know, moping around like an emo really doesn't suit you, Archer." Abby blinked and looked up to see Paige standing beside the booth, looking down at her with a half-smirk on her lips. "You've never been the kind to mope before, why start now?"

"Guess I've never been in the mood before." Abby replied with a droll smile. Paige moved to slide into the booth across from her, setting her own cup of vanilla sprinkled ice-cream in front of her. "What are you doing here? I thought today was the first day for rehearsals to start up. Have to break in that new Rose."

"I asked Charlie for the day off after he told us you weren't part of the play anymore." Paige told her. "He told me why, too. It really sucks about your mom."

"What'm I gonna do about it?" Abby shrugged. "It's not like anything I say is gonna convince her to let me do it. She's convinced if I stay in the play I'm going to become a lesbian, and that's something she really wants to avoid."

Paige cocked her head to the side with a curious look in her eyes. "Then you're NOT a lesbian at all…?"

Abby blushed for a moment, then shook her head and looked down at her ice-cream. "Heck, I don't know what I am or what I want half the time. I know I've liked the time we spent together the last few days and… that's about all I know about it. I enjoyed it. Does that make me a lesbian?"

Paige shrugged and took a bite from her ice-cream. "I don't think so…" She lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned forward so only Abby could hear her. "Heck, you're the second person I've been with, and the first girl… and honestly, both times seem about the same to me. What does that make me?"

Abby shook her head, then let out a chuckle. "Confused, it seems like."

Paige chuckled as well. "Can't argue with you there." She fell silent as she dug another bite of ice-cream out of her bowl and shoveled it into her mouth. "I get why you've been avoiding me all week now… what I wanna know is if it's gonna stay that way."

"What do you mean?" Abby asked.

"Are we gonna stop being… whatever we are?" Paige asked. "Whatever the heck you'd call us, I'm not even sure anymore. Is it just gonna stop?"

"I definitely don't want that." Abby replied thoughtfully. "I definitely don't want my mom to find out about it, though. Y'know, whatever we are…" Abby blinked. "Just what are we, anyway?"

"Heck if I know, all I know is I don't want it to end." Paige replied sensibly. "And hey, if you wanna be discreet, I know how to be discreet. I have no problem with that."

"Really? Well… cool!" Abby smiled broadly. "Wow, so you and I are officially… officially…"

Paige pointed her spoon at her sharply. "Something. Just something." She flipped the spoon around in her fingers and shoved the bit of ice-cream into her mouth while Abby flashed her a slight smile.

To Be Continued


	7. Many Dreams Fade

Chapter 07: Many Dreams Fade

It still sucked that she wasn't part of the play anymore, but at least she was still friends with Paige, she thought to herself the next morning as she emerged from her house. She'd been afraid her mother would ground her over the weekend, but her anger over Abby's outburst had been short lived, and Abby found herself once again free from her mother's tyrannical fury, and able to do as she pleased. Now all she had to do was think of something to do. Paige was back in rehearsals for the play, and Ty was having a study-lunch with Naomi.

Well, she reasoned with herself, her mother had said she couldn't be in the play, but that didn't mean she couldn't go watch them rehearse for a little while. It would give her a chance to see how the new Rose was doing taking her place. Maybe she was doing better than Abby would have, then at least Charlie's dream wouldn't be dashed against the rocks the way Abby's was. So with a slight sigh she turned to head down the sidewalk towards the theater.

As she walked with her hands in her pockets she noticed some people giving her curious looks. Teenagers and adults alike who passed with their eyes strangely following her every movement. Abby wasn't a shy person, but this kind of attention was making her more nervous with every passing moment.

She made her way to the theater, then came to an abrupt stop when she saw a crowd of people outside holding signs and shouting something in loud voices. They were marching in a broad circle in front of the building… was this some sort of protest? Abby's heart jumped in her chest when she realized her mother was among those marching in front of the building, holding high a sign that read 'Don't exploit our children'.

"Oh my God, you can't be serious…" Abby muttered to herself in disbelief, but she couldn't deny it. Were they actually trying to get the play shut down? Abby rushed toward the crowd, heading up to her mother and grabbing her arm. "Mom, what are you doing?"

"We can't let this man corrupt our city's young women, Abby, we're going to get this play shut down completely." Her mother told her with a firm nod.

"What!?" Abby's eyes widened. "But I'm not part of the play anymore, you don't have to do that!"

"I know sweetie, but if it's not you, it'll just be some other poor innocent girl who's duped into this." Her mother said with a defiant tone. "And I won't see any young women duped into being used like this if I can help it." She turned toward the building and held up her sign again as another surge from the other adults, mostly women she recognized from around town, held up their signs and started yelling again.

Abby bit her lip, then slipped out of her mother's sight, moving around the crowd to the side of the large theater, where she slipped up to one of the back doors and pushed her way inside. She could hear the actors talking amongst themselves from out on the stage, mostly in nervous tones. As Abby moved into sight from behind the curtain, she could see that there was now a background sitting on the stage, and now that she was paying attention, there were other sets behind the curtains.

"Do you think the play's going to be cancelled?" One of the boys on the stage asked in a worried tone. "I mean, almost half of the cast has been yanked out of the play. That can't be good this late in the game."

"It's not good, but Charlie's not about to let this stop him from putting on his show, and neither am I." Paige responded instantly, moving up through the crowd in her Amy costume. This time she even had her hair up in a pair of pigtails on the sides of her head, and was wearing a coating of makeup. "But hey, if you'd rather just run don't let us stop you. We don't need someone in this play that's not actually committed to it."

"Of course I'm committed! I'm just saying, even the Rose understudy left! We have no one to play Rose!" The boy insisted. "Even the play is called Amy and Rose, we can't put on this thing without a Rose!"

"We'll find someone." Paige replied with just as much confidence as before, without a trace of doubt in her eyes or voice. "We are going to do this thing, no matter what it takes, and we are going to make it something to be proud of!"

"R-right." The boy blinked and backed down under Paige's furious stare, shrinking into an almost pathetic huddled form that slinked away from her.

"You realize this is technically trespassing." Abby squeaked and whirled around to see Charlie looked down at her with a kind smile on his lips. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he spoke again. "What can I do for you, Abby?"

"Is it true?" Abby asked him worriedly. "Is the play going to have to shut down?"

"Legally, there's nothing those people outside can do to stop us from putting this play on." Charlie told her in a simple, direct manner. "But I'll be honest, a lot of the people in that crowd are the parents of the actors, and if they withdraw permission for their children to be in it, we'll have no choice but to cancel the play. We cannot do this without actors."

"Can't you just move it?" Abby asked. "Take it to another town, where people won't freak out so much."

"It's possible, but… I'm not the one who controls the funding for this project. I suspect if the reaction is bad enough here to drive us out of town, they won't support a second attempt elsewhere." Charlie told her. When he noticed Abby's eyes darken he flashed her a smile and gripped her shoulder in a comforting manner. "Hey, it happens all the time in this business. I feel lucky just to have gotten as far as I have. If the story isn't told now, then it will just have to wait until later."

"Y-yeah. I guess." Abby agreed, though her heart wasn't in it.

"Relax, and you can of course hang around as long as you want. It's not like you're here stealing secrets." Charlie winked with a chuckle, then after one more reassuring squeeze released her shoulder and turned to head back out onto the stage. Abby gripped the curtains that dangled beside her and leaned against them, watching the scene out on the stage as Charlie once again brought the remaining actors under control to get a few more scenes rehearsed. It looked silly with only half of the actors present, but as he said, "we must keep up our practice if we want to remain perfect, or all of your effort will be wasted."

After the last few scenes Charlie dismissed the actors with a smile and turned to make his way into the back, while most of the kids made their way towards the changing rooms. Paige heaved a sigh and wiped her somewhat sweaty forehead with the back of one hand as she looked around, then paused when she spotted Abby watching from off-stage. A smile tugged at the corner of her lip as she turned to approach her.

"You ready to come back to work yet, Archer?" Paige asked.

"I wish I could." Abby sighed. "But my mom's one of the parents out front carrying around a big sign."

"Ick." Paige made a face of disgust. "Makes me feel lucky. My mom really doesn't care what I do as long as I'm sure I wanna do it." Paige gestured for Abby to follow, then turned to make her way into the girls' dressing room. Abby went with her, shoving her hands into her pockets on the way. When they walked in most of the other girls were already filing out, with only a few stragglers wiping off the last of their makeup.

"Sounds nice to me." Abby took up a position outside one of the stalls, leaning against the wall while Paige slipped into it and closed the door behind her. "I wish I could come back to the show, but the last thing I wanna do is get Charlie in even worse trouble."

"Yeah, I hear you." Paige replied. "Personally though, I think you need to be tough with your mother."

"Excuse me?" Abby raised her eyebrow.

"You're not actually just going to let her win, are you? Lay down and take her judgment without a fight?"

"She's my mother." Abby pointed out. "What am I supposed to do?"

She heard Paige sigh from inside the changing booth. "Did you learn nothing from history class about the 60's? Protest, fight for your rights, whatever you have to do. We need you here, Archer, you were a way better Rose than that pretender ever was anyway."

"Thanks, but I don't know if I have the guts to DEFY my mom… I mean, what if she raises Hell for Charlie? I don't want to put any more pressure on him either." Abby pointed out.

"Talk some sense into her. What IS her problem anyway?"

"Well…" Abby hesitated a moment, then took a deep breath. "Honestly, I think her biggest problem is that she's convinced Charlie is using the lesbian leads to attract perverts into seeing it."

There was silence inside the changing room for a moment, then a crack in the door opened and Paige's head appeared, accompanied by the sight of a bare shoulder. "That settles it. You HAVE to fight her on this, then."

"What? Why?" Abby blinked.

"Because she's unequivocally WRONG about everything. You have to show her that she's wrong, because Charlie doesn't deserve to have his show destroyed by a misconception, and I don't deserve to have my big break taken from me by one either."

"Okay first… I'm impressed you know what unequivocally means." Abby told her.

"I have lots of tutors and a brain." Paige huffed.

"Second…" Abby trailed off for a moment, shaking her head. "Maybe you're right… but she's not going to just LISTEN to me. She's pretty sure everything I say now is influenced by you guys, she'd just get more suspicious if I argued with her."

Paige pursed her lips in thought, then her eyes flashed and a devious smile spread across her lips that reminded Abby uncomfortably of the old sneaky Paige who was constantly at war with her before this whole thing began. "She may not listen to you telling her about the play, but what if we showed her?"

"What, give her the script?" Abby asked. "Could work I guess…"

"Nah, the script can be taken out of context as well as any description, and besides, this is past just her now. What we need is a sneak preview." Paige grinned. "She can't argue with us when we SHOW her what we mean. And everyone else will see it too."

"Perform the play!?" Abby's eyes widened. "But there's still props missing, costumes are still being perfectly fitted, the makeup isn't perfect, we don't have a lighting guy, we're not well-rehearsed enough… and I'm not part of the play anyway…"

"Well we'll find a way to make it work, any way we possibly can." Paige slipped back into the stall, then emerged a second later wearing a thin white t-shirt with her usual skirt as she approached Abby. "So are you going to keep sulking or take a stand and make them see that this play is worth doing?"

Abby blinked, then set her mouth in a determined lone and nodded back. "You're right… we can do this."

Paige grinned. "Glad to see you back to your old annoying self. Now let me finish getting dressed and we'll go find Charlie. We need to get everyone together on this if we're going to make it work."

***

"I don't think this is such a good idea, ladies." Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed in his local hotel room, watching the two girls in front of him with a bemused look on his face. "I appreciate the sentiment, but we're not ready, and it wouldn't be my decision to make if we were. There are people above me, and they would never go for it."

"But if we don't show everyone that this play is important, it'll never be put on anyway." Abby complained.

"And YOU are not allowed to have anything to do with this." Charlie looked at Abby. "Don't take this the wrong way, Abby, but if you do this it could open us up to a whole new level of legal trouble."

"She's damn good at organization and she knows what she's doing here, we need her." Paige stepped in this time. "Come on Charlie, we're trying to help you!"

"I appreciate that." Charlie gave them a gentle smile. "But you won't do that by getting us in even worse legal trouble. Please, let me handle the legal and production issues. All I need from you, Paige, is for you to study your lines and be ready to be the best Mary you can be."

Paige glared at him for a few moments until Abby was sure she was going to explode, but she just turned back towards the door. "Come on Abby, he doesn't want our help." She flung the door open and marched outside in a huff.

"Um… good luck, Charlie." Abby waved behind her, then followed Paige out of the room, closing the door behind her and jogging to catch up with her further down the hall. "He's just doing what he thinks is best, it's no reason to get angry with him. He's trying to protect us."

"Well I'm not going to sit here and be 'protected'." Paige shoved her hands almost vengefully into the pockets of her sweater. "We are going to put on this play, we are going to show everyone why it's so important. Whether we have Charlie's permission or not. Come on." She marched out into the streets, with Abby close on her heels.

Abby still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but Paige's determination was so infectious she found herself getting caught up in it, especially since those kids they confronted with the idea first before they could leave the auditorium quickly got on board with it. They were as into this play as Paige was, and Abby knew she would love to jump back into it if she possibly could. If she could just get her mother's permission to do it…

They made a lot of progress rounding up those who were left still participating in the play, but night was quickly beginning to fall, and soon they found themselves wandering down the dark streets side-by-side with tired but fulfilled smiles on their faces while the pale glow of the moon illuminated the world around them.

"So it's settled. This coming Saturday, we put on the play in the amphitheater in the park." Paige stretched her back out and let out a cute yawn. "Just gotta make sure everyone's there to see it somehow…"

"I'm sure we'll think of something." Abby found herself smiling as well, looking up at the bright pale moon high overhead. "Hey, Paige… what do you think of all of this?"

"Hm?" Paige glanced over at her out of the corner of her eye. "Think of what?"

"Homosexuality, how people are responding to it, all of it." Abby replied.

Paige shrugged. "I make it a policy not to listen to what moronic losers think of me… or anything else for that matter. So why should I listen to any of them now? As for my stance on homosexuality, well…" She held out of her arm and scooted closer to Abby, slipping the arm around her shoulders and holding her close. "I think my view on THAT should be pretty obvious."

"Haha." Abby laughed with a soft blush. "I'm still not entirely sure what this means, exactly. To be honest I've barely thought about it. Not just because you're a girl, but because you're YOU. I always hated you, and you always hated me. Sure we've worked together well over the years but this… this seems like…"

"That's why I don't think about it." Paige raised a finger to her chin and turned her face to look at her. "I know what I want, why ask why I want it?"

"There's a certain shallow wisdom to that…" Abby giggled again.

Paige scoffed. "Depth is overrated. People thinking too much is exactly what causes this sort of insane homophobia in the first place. 'Why are they different?' 'What did I do wrong?' 'Oh woe is me, someone has an opinion that's DIFFERENT from mine!' If people would just chill out and stop asking why something's different, they would just relax and let it BE."

"Wow… I've never thought of it like that." Abby blinked. "I never took you for the hippy type."

"Hippy? Ewe. I shower!" Paige shuddered. "I just think people are stupid, is all."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Abby smirked. "SOME people, anyway. Lots of people are nice and intelligent."

"We'll disagree on that." Paige smirked and squeezed her shoulders lightly with one arm. "Come on, my mom's been pretty neutral on the whole thing, so if you want we can hang out there for a while."

"Sure, that sounds kind of nice." Abby smiled back and they turned to make their way toward Paige's house down the silent, empty streets. They had a lot of work to do still before they were ready to even put on their pre-play, rehearsals of their own and plans to work out. They didn't even know how to make sure everyone was there to see it, but they weren't about to let that stop them. This was way too important to just give up on.

To Be Continued


	8. The Rebellion Rises

Chapter 08: The Rebellion Rises

Abby awoke the next morning sleeping in Paige's massive, thick bed inside which she sank whenever she tried to roll around amid the tangle of equally thick blankets. She rolled over onto her back with a contented sigh, enjoying the feel of the luxurious blankets as she looked beside her to see Paige sleeping less than a foot away, buried underneath the tangle except for her head and shoulder, which stuck out onto the pearl-white pillow.

With a slight smile on her lips Abby scooted her way over to Paige underneath the covers, sliding up close to her and slipping her arms around her waist. They were both still dressed, preventing things from being TOO awkward. Abby leaned her chin against Paige's shoulder, watching her face while her chest rose and fell with the gentle, steady rhythm of her breath.

"Mmhh…?" Paige moaned softly and opened her eyes at the contact, her hazy orbs scanning the room for a moment before finally turning downward and settling on Abby lying against her side. "Isn't your mom gonna miss you?"

"Let her." Abby smiled back. "I couldn't bring myself to leave."

Paige grinned. "I knew I was irresistible, but dang, blowing off your own mother for me? I AM good."

Abby laughed and smacked her playfully on the shoulder. "I'm just glad your mom's okay with all of this."

"Well, I wouldn't say she's okay with ALL of it… I'd say she's okay with some of it and ignorant of the rest, but hey, who's going into specifics?" Paige winked and tightened her own arms around Abby's waist, pulling the girl on top of her and stroking her back lightly with her fingertips. "Hmmmm, I could definitely get used to waking up like this. I guess this is why people get married."

Abby shivered slightly at the touch of her fingers on her back, leaning her elbows against Paige's chest to prop herself up and looking down at her face. "Yeah, I think I see what you mean… not that I'm marrying you." Abby flashed her a smirk. "We should get going soon. It's a school day, and after that we still have a lot of setting up to do at the amphitheater, plans to make…"

"We're gonna be pretty busy over the next few days getting everything together." Paige told her. "Won't have a lot of time together… unless you decide to give us the best damn Rose we could ask for."

"Paige, you know I can't-" Abby began.

"Oh shut up." Paige ordered. "You've come THIS far against your mom's orders, what do you think she'd say if she knew you were helping me set this up? Or heck, if she saw you NOW?"

"If she saw me NOW I think she'd hurt something. Not sure what, but pain would be involved." Abby smirked.

"Exactly. We both know this is more important than some grudge of your mom's. So what do you say? Come back and play Rose, even if it's only for this one unauthorized show." Paige gave her a smile, squeezing her back with her arms.

Abby looked down slightly, then pushed herself up off of Paige to a sitting position. She felt the bed shift behind her as Paige sat up close to her, but she didn't turn to look, instead just staring down at the luxurious flowing sheets that cascaded down around her. She clutched the top of the sheets with a white-knuckled grip, her mind suddenly whirling and realizing exactly what was happening.

"Abby?" She felt a soft touch on her shoulder. "You okay? You getting sick or something?"

"I've never done anything like this…" Abby raised a hand to her head. "Sure, I don't always listen to my mom but… this is like… outright DEFYING her."

"For a good cause."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. I feel like I'm betraying her just being here…" Abby felt the hand move from her shoulder, to be replaced a moment later by a pair of arms encircling her waist. Abby silently leaned back until she felt Paige's chest pressing into her shoulders, her chin settling down on one of Abby's shoulders.

"Remember what I said about thinking too much?" Paige told her. "You keep thinking so much and of course things are going to seem like bad ideas. But you and I both know what's going on here, I know you're smart enough to see it, and I know that unlike a lot of people you care enough to at least TRY to do something about it. If you didn't, you wouldn't have come back to the theater yesterday, and you wouldn't be here right now. Stop thinking about what your mom thinks for a while, and just do what you have to do."

Abby fell silent for a few long moments, then nodded and glanced at Paige's eyes right beside her head. "Okay… no more thinking about it. You're gonna need a Rose for this, and I'm gonna give it to you."

Paige grinned at that and kissed her cheek softly. "I knew I could count on you, Abby. After all, you've never backed down from a challenge before, no matter how much I wanted you to."

***

The next few days passed in a hectic frenzy, both fast and frenetic and slow and quiet at the same time as they rushed to get the show together while keeping it secret from those not involved, and figure out a way to get their parents there on Friday night without them simply putting a halt to the whole thing. The more Abby tried to think about it, the more it just made her brain spin and hurt. This was going to be extremely difficult, and she had no idea how to pull it off.

Paige seemed unphased, though, which set Abby somewhat at ease. The girl was just taking charge of everything, ordering people around like a lion to her lionesses, and nobody ever even thought to complain about it. She was certainly a commanding individual, with an attitude that dared anyone to defy what she was saying and demanded respect. Now that Abby wasn't fuming about it, she realized Paige actually seemed to know what she was doing. This might actually work out…

The day was rapidly approaching, and Abby was careful to move silently everywhere she went. The theater in the park was becoming cluttered with costumes and props the actors could scrounge up from their homes. Someone even managed to slip some old furniture out of their garage to use, but none of them knew how to make real sets, and they certainly couldn't use the ones made for the real play. They would just have to make do…

The days at Ringworm Jr. High felt almost unbearable as Abby watched the minutes pass until the performance that could make or break Charlie's dreams, especially the day before their performance was scheduled to take place. Her heart was racing just sitting there, but she forced herself to calm down and wait out the school day until finally that beautiful bell rang and she rushed through the hallways toward the front door.

She yelped and whirled in surprise when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder before she could reach the door. She found herself standing in the middle of the hallway with students pushing past her towards the exit, looking into her brother's eyes as he watched her with a curious gaze.

"Ty! You scared the crap out of me…" Abby huffed. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Ty asked.

Abby raised her eyebrow. "Um… okay…? That's kind of an odd thing to say…"

"Abby, I know what's been going on, and I'm not sure it's such a good idea." Ty told her.

Abby stared at him for a moment, then grabbed his wrist. "Come on, I think we need to find some place more private." She turned to leave with him, heading out of the school and making her way a distance from the school where they could walk alone before speaking again. "Okay, Ty, give me your lecture."

"I'm not trying to lecture you Abby, I'm warning you." Ty stopped walking and turned toward her. "Mom's noticed you've been acting strange, if she sees you up on that stage she's going to completely flip."

"I already promised Paige I would do it, I can't back out now! It would destroy everything she and the other actors have been working for!" Abby replied.

"You know how mom feels about all of this, if she sees you up on that stage, she won't give you a CHANCE to put the play on!" Ty told her. "She's already been freaking out worrying, I think you need to chill out and think this through."

"She has?" Abby blinked. "But she hasn't said anything to me about being worried…"

"Well, that's not really something I can tell you. You need to talk to her if you want to know how she's been feeling." Ty told her seriously. "I just want you to think about this a little more, before you do something you might regret for the rest of your life."

"It's just a play, Ty." Abby told him.

"Is it?" Ty stared into her eyes with a look of concern. "From where I've been standing it seems like it might be a lot more than that to you and Paige."

Abby stared at him for one more long moment, then turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not really your business if it is, is it?"

"No… I guess not." Ty's voice grew low as he spoke again. "But you know I don't care what you do… I just don't want to see you and mom fighting. I'll see you around, Abby… take care of yourself." He brushed past her, making his way down the sidewalk with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Abby watched him go, walking down the sidewalk with his shoulders drooping slightly at his sides. She thought for a moment to go after him, then shook her head and turned to head back to school. She really didn't want to run into him right now, and besides, she'd already made plans to meet with Paige right after school let out to make last minute preparations. Tomorrow was the big day, and they still had so much to do. Costumes to finalize, props to dig up, they would just have to make do without actual scenery…

She leaned against the massive sign in front of Ringworm Middle School and settled down to wait for Paige to emerge from the building, but as the flood of kids passed and began to slow into a trickle, there was still no sign of her anywhere. Abby pursed her lips curiously, but slid down the sign to wait a little longer. It wasn't until no students had emerged for a good five minutes that she began to feel something gnawing on the pit of her stomach. Paige wouldn't ditch her…

She pushed herself up from the grass and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, only to see a message on the front screen that she'd missed a call. A quick check of the number confirmed that it was from Paige, but she didn't leave a message. She hadn't even heard it… did Paige just call and then hang up before it had even rung? That didn't make any sense, Paige was not the 'practical joke' type, and even if she was this wasn't a very funny joke.

Abby turned to walk away from the school, speed-dialing Paige and putting the phone up to her ear as she headed down the sidewalk. She waited for several rings, only to hear a soft click and Paige's tinny voice come back over the receiver. "Obviously you wanna talk to Paige, but I'm not here, so you'll have to deal with leaving me a message. Later." Abby sighed and waited for the usual beep of the voicemail turning on.

"Paige, it's Abby. I guess I missed you at school so… when you get this, give me a call, okay?" She hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket again, speeding up on her way down the sidewalk. Maybe Paige remembered something she had to do, she reasoned. She was trying to get this play to go perfect, she probably came out while Abby was talking to Ty and remembered something, perhaps at home. Yeah, that had to be it…

She made her way to Paige's house, approaching the door and ringing the bell with a somewhat tentative touch. She stepped back and took deep breaths to calm herself until Paige's mother appeared at the door. "Good afternoon." Abby smiled. "Has Paige come back home today?"

"Huh? No, I'm afraid not. I figured she was with you." Paige's mother lifted her eyebrow curiously. "Is she okay? Did something happen?"

"Oh, nono!" Abby lifted her hands quickly to calm the woman. "She's fine, I just lost track of her when school let out. Thought she might have come home. Well, thanks for your help." Abby waved with a smile and quickly turned to leave, her heart sinking down in her chest and her smile turning to a frown when she was away from the large mansion. She turned the corner, her mind swirling with thoughts and worries until finally she whipped out her green communicator, flipping it open and turning it on.

"Lab Rat? You there?" Abby asked, walking down the sidewalk.

Her genius friend's face appeared on the screen in her hands with a warm smile. "Hey Abby, how goes the rebellion?"

"I thought it was going good, but Paige has gone missing." Abby told him worriedly. "If I give you her cell phone number, do you think you could track her down with the Bureau satellites?"

"Uuhhh…" Lab Rat grunted for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, that's kind of an inappropriate use of Government technology. We could get in serious trouble."

"I won't tell."

"Well, that's different then. Give me the number."

Abby grinned. "You're the best Lab Rat. The number's 555-2025."

"Alright, give me a few second… and there. We've got a fix." Lab Rat's focus turned to one of the other screens off to the side and his fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him. His rat Hermes leapt up on his shoulder to watch him work, its deep red eyes blinking curiously at the sight. "Zooming and… looks like she's in a residential area, but one pretty far from her house, AND the school. She must have gotten a ride out there."

"Give me the address, I'm going to check it out." Abby told him firmly.

"Do you want me to call Ty for backup?" Lab Rat asked as the address appeared on her screen.

"I don't think so, there's no reason to think she's in TROUBLE, I just want to make sure. I'll keep in touch if anything does go wrong." Without waiting for a response, Abby closed her communicator and turned to race down the street as fast as she could go. Lab Rat was right, the address was too far for her to walk and she'd never seen Paige ride a bike to or from school… someone had to have given her a ride. But Paige wasn't dumb enough to just go with any random stranger, was she…?

To Be Continued


	9. The Past Returns

Chapter 09: The Past Returns

Small hands held the warm mug with a white-knuckled grip, her eyes focused on the small puffy marshmallow that floated in the cocoa inside it. She could feel him watching her, staring at her. Once she had loved the attention, believed everything he told her, and given him everything he asked for. Paige could still remember everything that happened back then, but the memory wasn't a pleasant one… nor was seeing him again.

"It's your favorite, isn't it Paige?" Marco knelt down in front of her with a broad smile on his face, trying to look at her face. "I still remember you had this every time you came over. Sometimes I think you liked it more than you liked me."

"You're not supposed to come near me…" Paige reminded him in an uncharacteristically soft tone. She wanted to stand up, to scream at him and storm out, that was what she would have done with anyone else… but she felt like she was paralyzed, her stomach rolling over and over again in fear. He'd just appeared so suddenly… "The judge said so."

Marco's smile faded and he glanced around the room for a moment before looking up at her again. "I know… and you don't know how much that broke my heart, Paige." He took a deep, shuddering breath and his smile returned, one of his hands reaching out to touch her bare knee just beneath the hem of her white skirt. "I don't know what they kept telling you, but everything I told you was nothing but sincere… I loved you Paige, and you've only grown more beautiful…"

"You loved me…?" Paige mused softly, her eyes twitching in frustration and anger, at him, and at herself for being so damned frightened. This wasn't like her, she was strong, forceful, she could do anything she wanted to, damnit. "If you loved me… you wouldn't have touched me."

"What?" Marco blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know what was happening back then, I didn't know what it meant." Paige finally looked up from the cocoa to look into his eyes, seeing him staring at her with a stunned expression on his face. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have made me go through all of that…" she spoke softly.

"So you let them get to you…" Marco shook his head. "Don't you remember what we had, Paige?" His hand slid forward on her leg, up her thigh. "Don't you remember how it felt? I know you loved it, don't let them convince you what we had was a bad thing."

Paige gripped her mug of cocoa even tighter and closed her eyes, feeling goosebumps rising on her flesh. Yeah, she could remember what it felt like… at the time, she'd had no idea why it felt so good. She hadn't even known what an orgasm was… it had been so intense, she was sure it was love. Only much later did she realize that it wasn't love… just his sick obsession.

She could feel his hand climbing her thighs still, moving ever higher. She opened her eyes to look down at him, her grip on the mug tightening. But she wasn't that stupid anymore… she wasn't that stupid little girl. She was strong and smart now. She knew better… she knew what he was, and she knew she would not let him take advantage of her again.

"No… NO!" Without warning Paige slung the mug like a baseball bat, slamming it into the side of his head. The mug shattered on impact and the man slumped to the side in shock, his hand rising to the blood that has begun to leak from his forehead.

Paige lurched from the sofa and darted for the front door, slamming into it and fumbling to get the locks open, but one of his hands slammed into the door from behind to hold it shut while his other arm moved to wrap around her torso. Thinking fast, Paige ducked and slipped out of his arm, leaving him clutching her barrette in his arm while she raced to the stairs, her feet stomping up the steps at a pace faster than she'd ever gone before.

"PAIGE!" She heard Marco scream, his voice echoing up the stairwell. "Jesus, Paige! What do you think you're doing?" Paige leaned against the wall at the top of the stairs, gulping and keeping her mouth tightly shut as she slipped down the hallway. He couldn't see which way she'd gone, so if she could just keep quiet and find a place to use her cell phone… "Paige, please… you know I love you, I'd do anything for you. I forgive you for hitting me, just… just don't do this, Paige." His voice was wavering, Paige thought. That blow to the head must have done some damage. Good.

She slid down the hallway as silently as a mouse, looking for a place to hide, but all of the doors were shut, and with the dead silence in the hallways, she was afraid turning the knob would let him know where she was. Well, it wasn't a long hallway, and she could hear his footsteps coming up the stairs. Maybe if she could get inside before he reached the door, she could lock it and hide until the police showed up.

"Paige, answer me." Marco sounded like he was getting angry as he approached the top step of the staircase. Maybe he wouldn't be so gentle with her from now on. The thought spurred her doubtful mind into action. She grabbed one of the doorknobs and jerked it downward… only to find that it was locked. "Paige!" She heard him leap up the last of the steps while she scrambled to try one of the other doors, yanking desperately at the knob.

This one opened, allowing her to scramble inside. She whirled to put her shoulder to the door and shove it closed even while her hand moved to the lock. The door swung closed… but she felt something hit it mere seconds before it could click into place. For an instant she leaned against the stopped door, before suddenly it was thrust inward again with enough force to send her hurtling to the floor with a thud.

"Paige…" Marco stepped into the room, panting in anger and glaring down at her as he approached. Paige scrambled as far backwards as she could, until she felt her back hit the bottom of the bed. Her chest heaved in fear and desperation as she cast about for any way to escape, but he just reached back and closed the bedroom door, locking it with a soft click. He turned back to her after a second, his eyes narrowed. "That wasn't very nice."

"Get. Away. From. Me." Paige growled with as much conviction as she could muster, though the trembling that overcame her kept her from seeming very demanding. "I don't love you… and you don't love me. You're sick… you belonged in jail."

"That's what they taught you, Paige. Don't you see that? You loved me."

"I knew it felt good feeling like someone loved me, I knew it felt good when you touched me… but I know better now." Paige glared up at him. "You didn't love me, and what I felt wasn't love."

"You just need to remember, Paige." He knelt down and reached out for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to him.

"Wh-no! Get off me!" Paige struggled to slip away from him, but his grip was strong, and he was almost double her size. He managed to yank her back against his chest, one strong arm circling her chest to pin her arms down against her sides. She kicked at the floor in an attempt to knock him over, but his other hand quickly slipped down her stomach.

"Aahhh!" Paige's eyes widened and she squeaked in surprised when she felt his fingers touching her. She continued to kick at the ground, trying to squirm her way out of his grasp, but nothing she did seemed to slow him down at all. "Stop it… I'm not gonna… get back together with you… stop and I won't tell anyone… just stop…" She squirmed in desperation, but his hand only grew more invasive.

"I can feel that you're remembering…" Marco whispered into her ear.

"No, I'm not…" Paige's breath came in frightened, shallow pants. "I'm not…"

Without warning the window shattered on the other side of the bed, sending a few shards of glass bouncing over both of their heads. Marco pushed Paige away from him and whirled to his feet quickly, looking over the bed with a surprised look on his face. "What the Hell is this?" He demanded angrily. "Who do you think you are?"

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that I am gonna kick your BUTT if you so much as breathe wrong!" Paige gasped when she heard Abby's voice coming from the other side of the room. Slowly she pulled herself up to the side of the bed, peering over the thick mattress to see the redheaded girl standing in front of the shattered window holding her arms in an almost karate-like pose. "I've already called the police, and I gave them more than enough evidence of what you've been doing here. Just lay down and give up."

"What?" Marco's eyes widened for a moment, then his eyes narrowed and his lip began to quiver. "You didn't… you're bluffing!"

"You'll see that's not true in about five minutes, won't you?" Abby smirked. "Step away from Paige and give up, I mean it."

"You…" Marco growled. "How dare you! You don't know what prison is like for… for someone like me!"

"Not my problem, buddy. You brought it on yourself." Abby narrowed her eyes. "I won't ask you to give up again."

Marco growled and moved around the bed towards her. Abby didn't move away, instead turning to watch him with a sharp eye. "How dare you, you little…" Marco lunged for her, but Abby's body whirled with the grace of a dancer, her leg kicking off of the windowsill and sending her flipping over the bigger man's head. She landed on the bed on his other side, crouching into the cushion before using it to launch herself straight up again, her foot lashing out.

"HYAH!" Abby's foot slammed into his face with enough force to send him stumbling back, struggling to keep upright. He nearly lurched out the window, but his arms caught him on each side. Abby landed on the bed, crouching once again before sending herself hurtling towards him again, thrusting both feet straight toward the window.

Both feet dug into his chest, sending him sailing out into the open air outside the two-story building. Abby's hands shot up and caught the top of the windowsill, keeping herself from flying through the air after him as he plummeted to the grass below in a heavy heap. He lay motionless on the grass, except for the movement of his chest with his shallow breathing.

Abby pulled herself back into the window, landing on both feet and staring outside while her chest heaved from her exertions. Paige could barely believe what she'd just seen. Abby looked smaller than Paige was… but she'd just kicked a grown man out a two-story building like he wasn't even TRYING to fight back. While Paige herself… had been unable to do anything.

Abby turned to look back at her, brushing her bangs out of her eyes and giving her a slight smile. "You okay, Paige?" Yes, Paige thought to herself. She would be just fine, the threat was over and no real harm had been done. This was what she wanted to say, this was how she wanted to feel. But when she opened her mouth to say it, the breath caught in her throat and she could only stare at Abby as the tears began to well up in her eyes, quickly beginning to spill over onto her cheeks.

"Paige…!?" Abby's eyes widened and she rushed over the bed to her side, kneeling beside her and gripping her shoulders tightly. "Paige, it's okay…" She slipped her arms around Paige, pulling her into a tight embrace, which Paige gratefully melted into, burying her face into Abby's shoulder in a vain attempt to hide her sobs. "It's okay, let it out… let out all you need to." Abby whispered soothingly into her ear, her hands stroking her back with a gentle, comforting touch.

Paige gripped her tightly, her mind racing, though one thought just kept coming back to her over and over again. She just kept thinking to herself, 'you sissy.'

***

Abby's heart felt heavy the next day. Paige hadn't come to school, which was no surprise to her. She had barely stopped sobbing at all after Marco had gotten finished with her, right up until her mother showed up to retrieve her from police custody. Abby too had spent a little time being questioned, but the pictures she'd taken of the act were way more than enough evidence to put Marco away for probably the rest of his life. He'd gotten out of jail on good behavior… but he wouldn't see the light of day again.

Now, however, there was a second concern. She hadn't seen Paige since the police arrived at Marco's house, and now Abby found herself staring up at the theater in the park where the rest of the cast and crewmembers who'd chosen to join them were hastily setting up last-second props and makeshift sets. All of these kids were working towards what Paige had wanted for weeks now, and there was no sign of Paige. It was no surprise, really, Paige needed her rest… but she was the only one who knew how to play Amy. Without her, this show couldn't even begin. Besides, this had been Paige's endeavor all along, the passion she'd been working towards for over a week, for something she'd wanted all her life. Would she really just blow it off?

"Abby?" Naomi approached Abby with a concerned look on her face. She wasn't actually one of the cast, but she had volunteered to help when Paige asked her to. "Some of the other crewmembers and I were wondering… you know, we can do this show without a couple of extras, but we can't do it without our stars." She noted. Of course, nobody else had been told about what happened to Paige, so they didn't know why she would fail to show up here. "Do you know what's keeping Paige?"

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure I do." Abby said softly. "I'm going to go talk to her, the rest of you keep setting up, but don't start handing out the notes until I call and say we're on our way."

"Yeah, sure…" Naomi nodded with an unsure look on her face. "Do you think she might not come? Is something wrong?"

"Just… hold out for a little while, okay? I'll be as quick as I can." Abby turned away from the stage and made her way to the sidewalk where she broke into a swift jog. The sun was arching down toward the horizon, though it wasn't down far enough to make her worry about losing light before the show… unless Paige simply didn't come, of course. If that happened, it really wouldn't matter how much light they had.

She jogged up to Paige's mansion and knocked quickly on the door, stepping back to wait. Moments later she saw Paige's mother pull the door open, her eyes reddened and her expression rather worn. "Abby." The woman smiled and opened the door all the way. "I'm so glad you decided to come. I think Paige needs to see you." She turned to look up the stairs towards Paige's room.

"Yeah, I kind of thought so." Abby smiled and moved to head up the stairs, gripping the handrail with a white-knuckled grip as she made her way up toward the door. She pushed her way in slowly, trying not to make too much noise in case she was asleep.

The door crept open, revealing the sight of Paige lying on her thick king-sized bed in her light blue pajamas. Her bloodshot eyes were open, staring at the ceiling, while her hair framed her head in clumpy, messy locks that didn't even look like it had been washed that day. When she heard the door open, however, Paige glanced at the door, then squeaked and rolled quickly over to one side, her hand darting for a hairbrush.

"Oh! Abby!" She quickly tried to brush her hair out into something decent, but the hair resisted with powerful tangles. "I-I was just-"

"Everyone's waiting for you, Paige." Abby cut her off with a soft voice. Paige's hand stopped moving on her head, holding the brush against her scalp. "We're waiting for you to come do what you set out to do."

"I…" Slowly Paige set the brush down on the nightstand again, though she didn't turn to look at Abby. "I don't think I can do it."

"What do you mean?" Abby blinked in surprise.

"Abby… the truth is, I'm not as strong as I want to be." Paige's voice wavered slightly as she spoke, her hand slowly lowering the brush to the nightstand again. "Ever since my mom found out I was with Marco all those years ago, I've always thought the experience made me stronger, taught me something, that if anything like that happened again, I'd be ready… but I wasn't." She lowered her head to her chest. "I wasn't ready, I couldn't do anything. I really am… I really am just a weak victim, a statistic…"

"Paige, you are NOT weak." Abby approached to sit down on the edge of the bed back-to-back with Paige, leaning back to look at her. Paige kept her face hidden behind her curly blonde hair, staring at a picture of herself on the nightstand for something to focus on. "That could have happened to anyone."

"Not you." Paige replied sharply. "You jumped in and handed his butt to him like it was nothing, like you were some kind of superhero. If it wasn't for you I…" She trailed off for a moment as her voice began to waver, only speaking once she'd forced herself to calm down. "I just wish I was as strong as I always pretended to be."

Abby pulled her legs up onto the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring at Paige. "Do you know why I never liked you, Paige? You want me to be honest?" When there was no response, she continued. "It's because everyone listened to you, you just had this gift for making others see things your way. I always assumed it was just because you were cute, and had all this money, while I was just a mildly athletic nerd with a sick hobby."

"That was just me acting tougher than I really am…" Paige mumbled.

"I don't think so. People listen to you because you have something that a lot of people don't have… you have the kind of personality that makes people listen, the kind of attitude that says 'I'm right', and enough brains to back it up." Abby stared at her, watching her chest rise and fall with her steady breath. "Sure at first I thought you were just spoiled, but after watching you for these last few weeks, I'm sure it's more than that. You are strong Paige, just not physically."

Abby turned to slide off the bed, walking around it toward her slowly. "I mean look at what you got us all to do. I never DEFY my mother, but here I've been, so many nights openly defying what she's told me. Organizing this potentially volatile and illegal show in the park to make a point, why? Because you wanted me to." Abby moved halfway around, until she could see Paige's face from beneath her hair. "All those other kids involved in it, many of whom had nothing to do with the show in the first place, all chose to get involved. Why? Because you asked them to."

Abby finished her lap of the bed and sat down right next to Paige, placing a gentle hand on her knee. "That's why Charlie picked you for this role, that was why you got the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, that was why you were picked to decorate the gym for that dance. You deserved all of it, and I was just too jealous to see it at the time." Finally Paige looked up from the nightstand to look her in the eye, and Abby met her with a soft smile. "You are strong, in all the most important ways."

"You really mean all that…?" Paige asked softly.

"Every single word." Abby reached out to pull her into a gentle hug, pressing her lips against her moist cheek before pulling Paige's cheek up against her shoulder, stroking the back of her head and shoulders with a gentle hand. "You are an amazing person, Paige, no matter what I used to say about you behind your back." She felt Paige chuckle softly against her shoulder. Slowly Abby pushed her back to look into her eyes. "I understand if you don't feel like doing anything… but I also think you'll regret it if you don't see this through. You've worked so hard for this."

"Yeah…" Paige took a deep breath. "I can't just leave it unfinished now… EVERYONE'S been working so hard…"

Abby slipped her hand down her arm to take her hand in a tight grip, looking into her eyes. "Everyone's waiting for us right now, all we have to do is send out the invitations."

Paige nodded slowly and set her mouth in a determined line. "Let's do it…"

***

A knock on the door drew Ty Archer out of the kitchen, rubbing his forehead with a soft grumble. He opened the door and peered out, only to see that the front step was empty except for a single piece of paper on the front doorstep. "What on Earth…?" He knelt down to grab it, but there were only two words written on it.

"Park. 6:00."

"Huh…" Ty turned the paper over in his hands curiously and turned to head inside. "Mom, something weird just showed up…"

***

The suitcase was packed, his things all tucked neatly inside its depths where they would be ready to go whenever he got the call that the show was cancelled. He was expecting it any time now… the studios always hated bad publicity, and there was nothing worse than some of the allegations being leveled against them by this town's inhabitants. He'd done his best to plead his case, but soon the call would be made and, quite likely, that was it for the show, and his career.

He blinked in surprise and looked at the door when he heard a loud knock, followed by something padding rapidly down the hallway. Curiously, he moved to open the door, and saw a single piece of paper sitting on the floor in front of him. He knelt down to lift it from the floor with one hand.

_Dear Charlie:_

_Please consider this a personal invitation to come to the City Park in one hour. You don't have to, but it would mean a lot to all of us if you were there to see it, even if it's the only time._

_Love: Paige_

Charlie grunted and gripped the paper tighter in his palm. "Damnit… what are you girls doing?"

***

Abby peered out from behind the curtain, seeing people beginning to show up over the hill surrounding the otherwise empty theater in the park. They had no seats, but they had brought enough blankets to cover the grass in front of the theater so people could sit on the ground and watch the show. Naomi and several other students were standing at the top of the hill waiting to show them to open spots on the grass and let them know that the show would be starting soon. The more Abby watched them pile up with mystified expressions on their faces, the more her stomach began to turn. What if they stopped the show the minute it started…?

She looked back when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Paige was standing right behind her in clothes that somewhat resembled her actual costume, though they were actually taken from Abby's closet. "We're going to be ready in twenty minutes… looks like the crowd's filling up… it's going to be show time soon."

"Yeah… how are you holding up?" Abby asked.

"I'll be fine… it feels good to get outside." Paige stretched and waved off the worried question. "It'll be nice to get this over with. The first performance is always the worst, isn't it?"

"Haha, yeah, so nervous." Abby agreed with a nod, then turned to look out the curtain again. The breath caught in her throat when she saw her mother and father, along with Ty, heading down the grassy hill towards the blankets. Her parents looked confused, but Ty just looked worried.

"Oohhhh great…" Abby took a deep, steadying breath. "My family's here… they're going to see everything… judge everything…"

"Relax, that's what we wanted, right? For them to see what it was really about?"

"Y-yeah…" Abby nodded. "I'm just afraid they'll still decide that it's terrible…"

"They won't. We'll give it our all to make them see, okay?" Paige gave her a soft smile. "Between you and me, we can make them see what this play really means."

Paige nodded again, more steadily, her breath slowing to normal. "Yeah… we've always worked well together. We can do this." She nodded firmly and clenched her mouth. They had to do this…

To Be Continued


	10. A Mission Fulfilled

Chapter 10: A Mission Fulfilled

"What do you think this is all about?" One of the voices in the audience asked as the wind blew through the grass around them, and more and more people gathered in front of the small theater.

"I have no idea." Another voice shrugged. "I just got a note telling me to come here."

"Yeah, me too." A third voice said.

"Damnit, Abby…" Charlie muttered to himself as he stood on top of the hill. "You have no idea what kind of a mess you're getting me into here…"

"Mr. Andrews?" A teenage girl with glasses and freckles dotting her face approached him with a kind smile. "We have a special seat near the front waiting just for you."

"I'm fine here, thank you." Charlie replied in a gruff voice.

"Oh… well…" The girl rubbed the back of her neck. "Enjoy the show, then…" She quickly slinked away from him into the crowd, while he crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the curtain that covered the stage.

All eyes turned to the stage as a boy slipped out from between the curtains with a flourish, the dull red cape around his neck fluttering behind the blue jeans and t-shirt he was otherwise wearing. "Welcome one and all to a very special night we've all worked very hard to prepare. What you're about to see may surprise you… it may shock and enrage, it may even frighten. But please, allow us to finish, so that you can see in this what we all see, so what you can feel from it what we all feel, so that you can truly know what this is all about. Thank you… and enjoy the show." The boy bowed swiftly and moved back behind the curtain as the strings of a single acoustic guitar began to ring out over the field.

The curtains were drawn off to the sides to reveal the stage lit by oil lamps hung up on all four corners of it, and Abby standing near the side of the stage rummaging through some papers. She was wearing a dress that looked similar to the one she was supposed to be wearing, but without the old-world feel to it. It was more of a plain modern dress in black and white.

One of the other girls entered the stage through the rear curtain, obviously lacking the proper set pieces. "Did you get something worthwhile, dear Rose?" She asked with a kindly smile, feigning an old-person voice even though she was only wearing a white wig.

"Oh… I believe perhaps I have." Abby dropped several of the papers to the ground, holding one tightly in her hands. "Oh my… it seems to have come from an admirer."

"An admirer?" The other girl laughed lightly and moved to pat Abby on the shoulder. "I told you the boys would be honing in on you any time, Rose. Just remember… don't let them dock until you're seasoned."

"Mother!" Abby forced a blush while several audience members began to laugh. "Nobody's docking anywhere. Especially before I know who it is…" Abby looked down at the paper again wistfully, running her fingers over the lettering on it.

***

Abby stood on the edge of the stage, looking out at the crowd with a blank look on her face, the sun halfway down in the distance, casting a fiery orange glow over the stage. The lanterns' light was beginning to take over, casting a strangely eerie color over the stage. Abby stared down at the audience, as if seeking answers. "I don't understand… I've investigated every boy in the school… nobody sent me this letter. Who could it have possibly been?"

"Don't you know?" Abby whirled when Paige spoke from behind her, wearing sporty clothes, though not the ones that were her real costume. "Have you not guessed? You are so intelligent, dear Rose, surely you've realized by now."

"Amy." Paige breathed a sigh of relief. "For a moment I was afraid you were someone who I could not trust."

"You trust me so much?" Paige asked.

"Of course I do. It seems lately you've been the only one I can trust." Abby turned away from her again with a sigh. "I just cannot piece it together, I feel like I should know the truth but I cannot see it… and it frustrates me to no end. Why does my admirer insist on hiding?"

"Perhaps they have a reason." Paige moved toward her, slowly across the stage. "Perhaps they are frightened."

"For what reason would someone be frightened of me? I am as gentle and helpless as a kitten." Abby turned to look at her curiously, watching her approach. "Amy… do you know who it is?"

Slowly Paige nodded, moving closer to her. "I do…"

"Will you tell me? Please, I cannot take not knowing anymore." Abby asked.

"I can…" Paige seemed to hesitate, stepping closer to her, until they were only a foot apart. "If you promise that we will always be friends, no matter what."

Abby blinked in surprise, staring into her eyes. "I don't believe anything in the world could come between us."

"You don't know… how much I needed to hear that…" Paige lifted her hands gently to Abby's shoulders and leaned forward slowly, soon pressing her lips against Abby's. There were several gasps from the audience, but nobody stood and yelled. The audience remained silent, transfixed, as the play went on.

***

Abby sat on the front porch of a cardboard set, her dress shimmering in the spotlights that illuminated the grand theater in the center of town. She wrung her hands in her lap before the sound of footsteps drew her eyes to the cardboard door behind her. She saw the girl from before wearing a white wig glaring down at her and angrily clutching a cane in one hand.

"Is it true, Rose?" The girl demanded. "Can it really be true? Have you become what they say you have become?"

"Please don't speak of it that way." Abby said softly. "I have fallen in love, that is all…"

"With that girl." Her play mother growled and gripped the cane even tighter. "I would hope you'd have more sense than this. In this world there is only so far you can push society before it pushes right back, and society always wins!"

"I don't believe that, mother…" Abby spoke in a whisper so low the audience could barely hear it. "I don't believe love is ever hopeless…"

"Believe what you want!" Her play mother howled and turned back to the door. "Your belief won't change a darned thing. Lead you straight into a broken heart and a broken future, it will. Mark my words, no Gay is going to get anywhere important in this world, you should think about that before you declare who you 'love'." She walked back into the set.

Abby stood up from the steps and moved to walk across the stage as the house was pulled off to the left. "She can't be right… can she?"

"Not a chance." Abby turned in surprise to see Paige step out from behind a cardboard bush with a wry smirk on her lips and a bounce in her step. "Old bat probably doesn't even know what's really going on. The world is changing, Rose, we can make this work."

"Is it changing fast enough, is the question…" Abby trailed off.

"Screw it!" Paige exclaimed with a wave of her hand. "Screw it anyway! We don't need society to give us permission! We don't need your mother or our peers to understand anything. All we need is each other, and we'll have a future worth looking forward to."

Abby smiled a demure smile. "Do you really think so?"

"Of course!" Paige moved up to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "The future is ours, Rose! The future is what WE decide! Because it's OUR future, and we don't need anyone to tell us what our future is allowed to be!" She brought up her other arm and slipped both arms around Abby's neck. "We don't need permission to feel… why would we need it to express those feelings? Why do I need their permission to say I love you?"

***

Abby stood in the center of the stage, then suddenly clutched at her face and fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands with her shoulders trembling. Paige stood behind her, her fists clenched as she glared up at the ceiling, out at the audience, anywhere she could possibly see.

"Rose, please stop that." Paige told her sharply. "Who cares what your mother said? Who cares what anyone says!? We have what we need!"

"Is it really ALL we need, Amy?" Abby sniffled and looked up from her hands slowly. "Can it truly carry us forever…?"

"Yes!" Paige marched over to her and knelt down in front of her, reaching out to grip her hands. "It's all we need, Rose, it's all we'll ever need."

Abby stood up suddenly, pulling her hands away from her. "I don't know anymore… how can love carry a person through their entire life? What about the rest of it? Our careers, our friends, our families…"

"We can make it work, we have the strength!" Paige stood up in front of her, reaching out to grab her hand again almost desperately. "The strength of Romeo and Juliet! The strength to defy all expectations, to become legends! A legendary symbol of love and hope!"

Abby sniffled and looked down at their hands, then up into Paige's eyes again. "If only such strength weren't the stuff of fairy tales… maybe we could." She was breathing heavily, her hands gripping Paige's.

Paige seemed to pause for a moment, longer than seemed necessary. As Abby stared into her eyes she saw Paige waver, her mind whirling and her own eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Wh… what are you saying… Rose…?" Paige asked like she was supposed to, meeting her eyes again.

"I don't have the strength to defy the world… I'm sorry, I just don't." Abby gulped and shook her head. "Whatever dreams I have had must remain dreams. I may have those dreams every night for the remainder of my life… but I cannot trade in the rest of my life to make them real. I'm not as strong as you… nobody is as strong as you." Abby squeezed her hands tightly.

"You promised…" Paige gulped back her tears, tears that seemed far too genuine to just be part of the play. "You promised we could remain friends…"

"I'm sorry. This has been a beautiful dream…" Abby slowly pulled away from her, letting her hands slowly slip out of Paige's. Paige's fingers clutched at hers, desperate and grasping, but moments later Abby had freed herself. She moved away slowly across the stage, leaving Paige standing alone dead center. "You have the strength to defy the world, Amy… you have the strength to recover from me. Someday, when you find someone strong enough to love you, remember that this is the one dream… that I never wanted to end." Slowly Abby turned away from her and headed off-stage.

"No…" Paige collapsed to her knees in the middle of the stage, clutching at the solid wood with shaking fingers. "I am strong enough to defy the world…" She choked back a sob and squeezed her eyes closed, though the tears came regardless. "But I'm not strong enough for this…" She squeaked through her sobs and fell forward onto the stage, her whole body shuddering. "Not for this…" Her sobs echoed alone through the massive theater as slowly, the curtains drew closed between her and the audience.

Abby rushed back out onto the stage behind the safety of the curtain, kneeling in front of Paige and gripping her shoulders to whisper. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" Paige sniffed and pushed herself up from the stage, looking up at her with a smile under tear-stained cheeks. "D-did pretty good, huh…?

Abby heaved a sigh and pulled her into a hug. "You have no idea… come on." She stood and quickly pulled her off to the side of the stage as the rest of the cast began to gather.

They heard the audience begin to roar with applause as the final curtain call began and the rest of the cast members began to file out onto the stage as their names were called. Abby and Paige sat on the side, the latter taking deep, calming breaths while Abby watched her with a somewhat worried eye. "You look a little pale… are you sure you're okay?" Abby asked.

Paige flashed a small half-smile and looked up at her. "I'll be alright, guess maybe I just overdid it a little. I'm fine, really." She insisted again as she lifted a handkerchief from the table beside her to wipe at her cheeks. Abby was unconvinced, but they were running out of other actors to call onto the stage. Soon they would be down to the main stars.

"Come on, it's almost time for us to get out there." Abby stood and reached out to take Paige's hand. She felt Paige's fingers squeeze her hand tightly.

"And our biggest stars of the evening, Amy and Rose!" Charlie's voice echoed into the back from the stage. The applause was deafening as the two girls made their way quickly out onto the stage, their hands locked between them in a vice-like grip. They marched up to the center of the stage in the middle of all of their fellow actors and took a deep double-bow. The applause of the packed theater in the middle of town was deafening, drawing a huge grin from Abby that she hadn't been able to give for quite a while. She could even see Ty and her parents applauding.

The entire cast joined hands and bowed deeply once more, as the giant red curtain slowly slid closed between them and the audience. The chatter among the kids onstage was instantaneous, kids excitedly yammering or ranting to one-another about how the play had gone, while Abby just turned to look at Paige, their hands still clasped between them.

"You were wonderful." Each told the other in a soft voice. They could only smile until the small moment was broken by one of their fellow cast members.

"After parrtaayyyy!" One of the girls shouted at the top of her lungs. Paige and Abby could only laugh, they certainly couldn't argue.

***

The flashing lights were strong and the beat of the music kicked into full swing, sending the roomful of teenage youths into a frenzy of movement on the dance floor of the small gymnasium where Charlie had set up their celebratory party. It was on the smaller side, but that didn't stop the music from pounding and the students from doing what they did. Most of them were already in the middle of the dance floor, while others stood on the sidelines lined up across the long tables of punch and small snack items that had been provided.

Abby and Paige were in the middle of the dance floor, letting off the steam that had built up over the weeks of getting this play ready and all that had been happening in their lives. Abby enjoyed the dance, but she spent more time watching Paige cut loose, grinning and throwing her arms and legs around the dance floor like she was being attacked. The sight made Abby chuckle, but also filled her chest with a strangely warm feeling. It was nice to see her so happy after the weeks of stress she'd endured…

"Whew…" Paige finally slowed down after several songs of dancing, wiping the back of her hand over her sweaty brow. "I don't know how much more I can take of this."

Abby laughed with a playful grin. "You're out of energy? Well, I think we've found something ELSE I'm better than you at."

"Oh blow it out your hole, Archer." Paige punched her lightly in the arm with a smirk. "Come on, I think I could use a time out." She turned to head off the dance floor, weaving her way through the throbbing crowd of teens to the tables lining the room, where she poured herself a glass of punch.

Abby leaned against the table with a contented smile on her lips, scanning the happy crowd until she looked into a far corner of the room and spotted Charlie sitting by himself with a steaming mug clutched in both hands. There was a small stack of papers sitting on the small desk in front of him, though he paid it no mind. He just sat and watched the kids dance with a gentle smile on his lips, occasionally bringing the mug up to sip at it.

Abby nudged Paige and gestured to Charlie. When Paige nodded in return with a full glass of punch in her hand, the two of them made their way around the dance floor to meet him.

Charlie smiled warmly at their approach. "Abby, Paige." He nodded. "I may have said this already, but thank you so much for everything you've given. Your performance… and everything else."

"It was our pleasure." Paige grinned and nodded in acceptance. "It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see what the critics think!"

Charlie chuckled slightly and gave her a sadder smile. "Unfortunately, it looks like the critics have spoken. Some of them, at least." He leaned forward and pushed the paper on the table towards them.

Curiously, Abby reached down and opened it to read while Paige peered over her shoulder. Abby's eyes widened in surprise and anger as she read. "Overhyped play 'Amy and Rose' turns out to be nothing more than another piece of homosexual propaganda that fails to ignite a spark?"

"Propaganda!?" Paige fumed. "He didn't get it at all!"

Charlie chuckled and shook his head. "Honestly, that's about what I expected."

"What?" Abby looked at him in surprise. "You knew the play would be panned? But… but…"

"But what was the point!?" Paige demanded. "We didn't change anything, and if the play is gonna get reamed THIS hard, it's not going to sell tickets OR DVD's."

"True, it won't." Charlie shook his head. "It won't sell, and it won't change minds. However, I did what I set out to do." He smiled. "You see, what's important is not that people see your message the way you want them to… but that they see it at all. Which they did, thanks to you girls." He gave them another grateful nod and smile. "As long as the message exists, as long as we don't give up, it'll sink into society… someday."

Abby met his gaze for a moment, then gave him a nod and a smile of her own. "Yeah, I think I understand."

"Me too." Paige smiled as well, a bit more tensely. "It still sucks, but I guess you're making sense."

"Well, that's the real world sometimes. It can suck pretty hard." Charlie chuckled. "Now please, don't worry about any of this. You two more than anyone have earned the right to relax for a night, after all of your hard work over the last couple of weeks."

"Alright." Abby nodded and handed the paper back to him. "Thanks for giving us the opportunity to do this, Charlie." Abby smiled once more, then turned to head out onto the dance floor, but she hesitated when she saw that Paige wasn't following. "Paige?"

"Can I ask you something, Charlie?" Paige asked. Charlie nodded. "You said the play was kind of autobiographical… which one were you?" Abby blinked at her in surprise, then turned to look back at Charlie. "Amy, or Rose?"

Charlie gave her a long, searching stare, then leaned forward in his seat, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Would that we could all be strong enough to stand against society… many of us wouldn't have to make this winding journey alone. Nor would we have so many regrets follow us for the rest of our days."

Paige nodded slightly and her hand slowly reached out to take Abby's, gripping her fingers tightly. "Thanks for everything, Charlie." Paige spoke with a smile, then turned to head out onto the dance floor with Abby as a new song began to play over the speaker system. The soft beat began as the two girls turned towards one another, the notes beating out a steady rhythm while their lips curled upward and their bodies moved together.

_There's a place in your heart  
And I know that it is love  
And this place could be much brighter than tomorrow  
And if you really try  
You'll find there's no need to cry  
In this place you'll feel there's no hurt or sorrow_

Abby felt Paige lean against her, their bodies moving together with the melody, their arms locked around one-another in a soft embrace. Their legs moved to the soft beat, though neither of them was particularly graceful. They kicked each other more often than not, but neither of them cried out or complained. After a while, they stopped trying to move their feet and just swayed their bodies back and forth with the music as one.

_There are ways to get there  
If you care enough for the living  
Make a little space  
Make a better place..._

After a little while, Abby realized that people were starting to stop and look at them, seeming to be surprised to find them dancing so close to one-another. They nudged and whispered to one-another until soon it seemed like everyone in the building was watching them sway back and forth to the music. For a moment Abby thought to break it off, but the feeling of Paige's arms tightening around her back stopped her. Paige knew… and she didn't care. Well then… why should Abby? Instead she just closed her eyes, holding Paige close and moving with her still.

_Heal the world  
Make it a better place  
For you and for me and the entire human race  
There are people dying  
If you care enough for the living  
Make a better place for you and for me_

***

The orange sun shone down on the town, including on top of a small grassy hill in the park, overlooking the now-empty theater where they had first performed Amy and Rose several weeks ago. Abby and Paige leaned on opposite sides of one of the tall trees that stood strong against the wind, its leaves swaying back and forth in the soft breeze that swept over them. Abby stared down at the theater with one arm resting on her knee, while Paige faced the other way.

"So, the play flopped, and neither of us made any progress towards being stars." Abby sighed.

"Mmmyup." Paige said around the small white lollipop stick that stuck out of the right side of her lips.

"After all our effort getting the play put on, it didn't do anything to change the world and make it a better place." Abby said. "It's just as hostile towards homosexuals and homosexuality in general."

"Sounds right." Paige replied around the lollipop stick. "At least your mom stopped busting your butt, though."

"Yeah…" Abby sighed and shook her head. "So after all of that… everything that happened, with us, with our parents, with the town… you have any regrets?"

"Hmm…" Paige pulled the lollipop out of her mouth with a soft 'pop' and twirled it in her fingers. "Marco's in jail for life this time, I got to play a strong woman in an excellent play, and I have a girlfriend…" She mused. Abby blushed lightly, but didn't argue about her use of the word 'girlfriend'. It was the first time she'd heard Paige talk about her that way. "I think I'm fairly content, all in all. There'll be other chances to break into the spotlight."

"Hehe…" Abby giggled softly and leaned her cheek against her arm, staring down at the theater, colored fiery orange in the setting sun. "Definitely… we'll find other chances. It'll happen someday… everything will be better…"

The End ("Heal the World" performed by Micheal Jackson… Rest In Peace)


End file.
